Sisters
by TheOtherAvenger
Summary: Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr have always both been protective over their little sisters. What happens when the two girls have already met and are best friends before the team has even formed? And how will the team learn to trust each other and bond as well as train before the big battle with Shaw? What relationships will form? Set during First Class. M for sensitive themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone and welcome to my story! I have plenty of other stories in the Marvel universe if you're a new 'fan' of mine. So, the basis of this story is that Charles and Erik each have a sister (well in Charles's case, another sister.) So, this story is set during the timeline of First Class, but is mostly about the relationships between the characters and their own personal journeys. It's fully written, so I'll try to update every day. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story. It was co-written with by my good friend, WaterGirl15.**

 **Disclaimer: Neither WaterGirl15 or I have any legal rights to the characters, script, or overall plotlines of First Class. Those rights fall to Fox. We only own the small handful of OCs that either star or make an appearance to this story.**

 **Note: I know that our OCs names may not fit into where they come from, but they are our OCs and if you've read any stories from either of, you know they are usually there.**

 **Overall story warning: WARNING! This story contains throughout it themes of PTSD caused by torture, abuse, and rape, trust issues, self harm, depression, suicidal thoughts, and also has sexual themes, language, and some violence. There is also an M/M relationship in the story in some of the later chapters. You have been warned of all this in advance rather than my traditional chapter by chapter warning.**

* * *

 **Poland, 1944**

"Stay with your sister," a woman tells her son in German, "Promise me you'll keep her safe. Promise me. No matter what."

"I will," a young boy says, taking the young girl's hand, "I promise to keep her safe." The soldiers come and they start to drag people away. The boy pulls his sister away into a hole in a building and watches in horror as his parents are pulled away and the soldiers shut the gates. The boy runs to the closed gates and is grabbed by soldiers before the impossible happens - the gate starts to bend. The girl ran over to help her brother, who is struggling against the soldiers. Where she touches them, their skin burns. One of the soldiers grabs a gun and hits the boy over the head with with the butt and he's knocked to the ground. The girl grabs the gun before it hit her and it burned to ash. Another soldier knocks her to the ground and she hits her head, now laying limply beside her brother.

"Jessica!" the boy screams kneeling besides his sister. Little do they know that their little fight had been witnessed by a scientist and they are about to become lab rats.

 **Westchester, New York 1944**

It's a stormy night and Charles Xavier suddenly wakes, sensing something isn't quite right in his house. He stands up and leaves his room, grabbing a baseball bat quietly going into the kitchen, only to find his little sister already there, as well as his mother.

"Mommy?" the three year old girl asks.

"Mother?" Charles sees his mother, "What are you doing up? I thought you were a burglar."

"I didn't mean to startle you two. I just came down here for a snack. Charles, take your sister back to bed," their mother says, but Charles doesn't move. There's something very wrong and he can sense it. He steps in front of his little sister to protect her.

"Bra bra?"

"Who are you? What have you done with my mother?" Charles asks, stepping closer to the woman, ' _My mother has never set foot in this kitchen.'_ He projects his voice into her head, which causes her to shift forms and he sees a blue girl standing in front of him. She can't be much older than he is. His little sister squeaks and hides more behind him seeing the girl change.

"I knew I couldn't be the only one. I'm Charles," he smiles, "This is my little sister, Gabrielle."

"Hi," Gabrielle says shyly.

"I'm Raven," she says, "I'm sorry for breaking in. I had no place to go. My parents kicked me out. Your house is so big. I was just hungry."

"Take whatever you want. You don't have to steal ever again. I promise," he smiles. He knows he wants to help her and if he ever meets anyone else like them, he wants to help them too.

Gabrielle walks up to Raven and takes her hand, "Sissie!"

"Thank you," Raven smiles.

 **Poland**

Sebastian Shaw turns on his record player and sits down at his desk and looks up at the two children standing on the other side.

"Understand this, children," he says, "These Nazis, I'm not like them." He grabs the chocolate bar from his desk, "Genes are the key, yes. But their goals of blonde hair and blue eyes are pathetic," he slides the chocolate towards them, "Eat the chocolate. It's good. Want some?" He looks up at the kids.

"Where's our mother?" Erik asks, standing in front of his sister, "We want to see her."

"It's a very simple thing I want you to do," he says to the pair, "Move the coin. And then your sister needs to burn the other one." Erik focuses on the coin and tries to move it without any luck. Jessica reaches onto the desk and touches the coin, but nothing happens.

"I'm sorry sir. We tried. It's not possible," Erik says.

"I see," he says, and rings a bell, "The one good thing about Nazis is their methods produce results." Soldiers drag in their mother. The pair of siblings run over and hug their mother, but the soldiers pull the family apart.

"I'm going to count to three. Move the coin, boy. And your sister better melt the other one. Or your mother will die." Erik moves his hands desperately to get the coin to move, but to no avail. Jessica picks up the coin and holds it between her hands, but nothing happens.

"Eins," Shaw says and the siblings try even harder to do their designated jobs, but it just isn't working. They are both really scared.

"Everything is okay," their mother's voice says and repeats in the background.

"Zwei," Shaw continues to count, making the siblings even more desperate. They're doing all they can. Jess holds the coin tighter and Erik concentrates harder to move the coin.

"Drei," Shaw says, then pulls a gun and shoots their mother in the head and she falls to the ground, dead. Suddenly, the metal part of the bell caves in. The filing cabinet starts to collapse. The soldiers' helmets crush their skulls.

"NEIN!" Erik screams, and all the metal in the room goes crazy, including the tables and torture instruments in the room connected to Shaw's office. His sister, meanwhile, just starts crying and anything that is close to her or comes close to her turns to ashes. Shaw just smiles and watches as the siblings destroy his office.

"So pain is the key," he says once things calm down, "Pain and torture." He sets the coin into Erik's hand and pulls the siblings into the room that Erik had destroyed.

 **Argentina, 1962**

After getting a lead on Shaw, Erik walks into a bar in Argentina and goes to the counter to get a beer.

"German beer?" he asks, switching from Spanish to German.

"Of course," the bartender says.

"Do you like it?" One of the two other men in the bar says.

"The best," Erik says, looking at a picture of a boat that's behind the bar. One of the men is clearly Shaw, "What brings you to Argentina?" Erik turns around and looks at the men.

"The climate. I'm a pig farmer," the first man says and laughs.

"Tailor," the other man says, "since I was a boy. My father made the finest suits in Dusseldorf."

"My parents were from Dusseldorf," Erik walks over and sits at the table.

"What was their name?" Pig Farmer asks.

"They didn't have one," Erik says, "It was taken from them. By pig farmers and tailors." He clinks his glass against each of theirs. They all drink, the two men nervous. Who is this guy? And what is he going to do? Erik flips over his arms and the numbers that were branded into his wrist are revealed: 214782. The numbers that marked him as a target, as a victim of the war. It's at that moment the two men know how screwed they are. The pig farmer pulls a knife, but Erik has faster reflexes and takes it from him.

"'Blood and Honor,'" he reads the knife, "Which would you care to shed first?"

"We were under orders," the pig farmer says.

"Blood, then," Erik says and pushes the knife into the guy's hand. The other stands up and backs away

"Freeze, asshole," the bartender pulls a gun. Erik moves it and has it point at the tailor and pulls the trigger using his powers. He falls to the floor dead and then Erik pulls the knife from the other guy's hand and uses it to kill the bartender, then uses his powers to bring it back to his hand and stabs the guy in the hand again before picking up his beer and finishing it.

"Who are you?"

"Let's just say I'm Frankenstein's Monster and I'm looking for my creator," he walks over to the picture of the boat. Miami. That's his next destination, "But you're Shaw's buddy. Tell me where my sister is and I'll spare your life."

"I don't know," he says, "I swear."

"That's too bad," Erik says. He uses his powers to bring the gun into his hand and shoots the guy before leaving.

 **England**

"Excuse me, are you Charles Xavier?" A woman walks up to him in a bar.

"Yes, I am," Charles answers, "Who are you?"

"Agent McTaggart. CIA. Can I have a word?" She asks.

"Of course." She walks over and sits down a table away from the crowd of graduates. Charles follows her and sits down.

"Congratulations," she says.

"Thank you. It's a lot easier than it looks," he says.

"I mean on your thesis," she says, "I know this sounds crazy, but is it possible for the types of mutations you talked about to be possible today?" He looks at her and goes into her mind, wondering why she would ask about that. He finds his answer after a minute, seeing other mutants in her mind.

"You know what, let's have this conversation when you're sober," she went to stand up and leave.

"Something tells me you already know the answer to your question," Charles says.

"How could you possibly know that?" She looks him.

'Because I saw it in your mind,' he answers, using his abilities.

"You're one of them," she says, "That's how you know so much. Would you be willing to help me with something?"

"Of course."

"Are there any more of you? More would be helpful," she says, "Also, I hope you have a passport. We're going to America."

"I will have to talk to my sisters, but it won't be hard."

"Thank you," she says, then writes down the name of the hotel she's staying at, "I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon."

"You did what?" Raven asks when her and Charles are walking back to their flat.

"Something bad is happening. I have to help. You don't have to come with me," he says, "But a physical power might help them realize we're not lying."

"Have you called to tell Gabrielle? Have you forgotten that she is still in America at school?"

"I'm going to call her," he says, "She'll be glad to see us. And you know, you could have stayed in America with her. You didn't have to follow me to England."

"I know that, but what was I going to do? Gabrielle is still in school and now has a friend living at the mansion."

"I hope we can find her brother," Charles says, "She's really worried about him."

"I know she is, but I also think Gabrielle has a small crush on her brother thanks to all of the stories she has told her."

"Stories aren't the same as reality."

"I know that Charles, but you should know that Gabrielle has always had fantasies."

"I know, but who knows what her brother is up to? What they went through wasn't pleasant," he says, "Are you coming with me or not, Raven?"

"Of course I am coming."

"We leave tomorrow," he says, unlocking their flat and walking inside. Raven follows him and goes to start to pack her things.

Charles calls his sister, "Hey."

" _Charles?" Gabrielle asks, "What are you planning?"_

"I'm coming home tomorrow. I met a CIA agent today. She needs my help," he says, "So Raven and I will be back tomorrow afternoon."

" _Really? But what about school? Won't you get in trouble for leaving?"_

"Graduation was today, remember?" he asks, "I'm done with school."

" _Oh, right," Gabrielle yawns, "I forgot."_

"Good night," he says, "I'll see you tomorrow."

" _Good night," Gabrielle says before hanging up._ Charles heads to his room. He undresses and goes to bed, but setting an alarm so he doesn't oversleep.

In the morning, he and Raven head to the hotel to meet up with Agent McTaggart. He knocks on her door.

"You came," she says, opening her door.

"Of course I did," he says, "This is my sister, Raven. She's coming with us. But we need to stop off in New York before we go to DC and get my other sister and her friend."

"Of course, it's nice to meet you, Raven."

"Nice to meet you too," Raven says.

They all head to the airport to take a plane to New York and then drive from the airport up to the mansion. Charles smiles at his old home again before entering. It's exactly as it's always been. There is so much extra space that he wishes he has a use for.

"Gabrielle?" he calls, walking inside.

"In the kitchen!" Gabrielle calls back. Charles walks to the kitchen, his sister and the CIA agent following.

"Did you fire the chef?" Charles ask.

"No, he got sick today so Jess and I are on our own," Gabrielle replies, "Luckily, unlike you, I actually paid attention in Home Ec class."

"I paid attention," he says, "I just didn't learn much is all. Agent, this is my sister, Gabrielle, Gabi for short."

"Hello Gabrielle," Agent McTaggart says.

"Hello agent. Hungry?" Gabrielle asks all of them.

"I could eat," Charles says and the other two agree with him, "Where's Jess?"

"She should be home soon, she had her last test today." As if on cue the front door opened and footsteps were heard.

"Hey, I'm home," Jess calls, walking into the house.

"Hey, Jess!" Gabi calls, "in the kitchen!" She walks into the kitchen and sets her backpack on a chair before noticing the extra people.

"We've got company," Jess states, "I wish you had told me."

"Wish I could, they came suddenly."

"Well, I'll be up in my room," she says. Her German accent is still thick.

"You don't want to eat with us?"

"I'm not really that hungry," she lies. Truth is that she's not good around new people.

"Oh! Charles, Raven, this is Jessica. Jessica, these are my siblings," Gabi says, realizing what's going on.

"Yeah, I figured that out already. I'll see you later," she grabs her bag.

"Alright."

"So, Agent, what is it that you need us to do?" Raven asks Moira.

"I need your help preventing others like you starting World War III," Moira explains.

"Can you possibly elaborate?" Charles asks.

"There's this group called Hell's Fire, they mean to start the war. Their leader is Sebastian Shaw."

"Alright," Charles says, "the three of us will do whatever we need to to help."

"What about the other girl?"

"I don't know bout that," Gabi says, "she's not one to use her abilities after what she went through."

"German accent," Moira says, "Holocaust survivor?"

"Yes."

"Well, she doesn't have to help," Moira says, "I need you guys to come to DC with me. I need to prove to my boss that mutants exist."

"Alright," Charles agrees. Gabrielle, however, is still on the fence. She looks into Moira's mind and instantly recognizes Shaw from Jess's mind.

"I have to go upstairs," Gabi says, standing abruptly.

"What for?" Charles asks her, "can't it wait?"

"No, it cannot," she answers, running upstairs. She goes to Jess's room and knocks on the door.

"I'm busy!" She calls, "leave me alone."

"This is important," Gabi calls back.

"I'm not having dinner with you," Jess says, "I told you that I'm not hungry."

"It's not that, I found the guy who hurt you and your brother," Gabi tells her.

"I never want to see that guy again. I'm trying to get past that part of my life," Jess says.

"If we find him, we could find your brother. I just thought you should know."

"Good luck," she says. Gabi went back down stairs as they got ready to head to DC.


	2. Chapter 2

Once in DC, Charles and his sisters go into a meeting with Moira and her bosses. Charles gives a presentation to the group on mutations.

"The advent of the nuclear age may have accelerated the mutation process. Individuals with extraordinary abilities may already be among us. Thank you very much," Charles finishes and sits back down.

"MacTaggert, you really think that some crackpot scientist is gonna make me believe in," the Senator says, "Sparkly dames and vanishing men? You just bought yourself a one-way ticket back to the typing pool. This meeting is over." Moira stands up, feeling ashamed and humiliated.

"Uh, please sit down, Agent MacTaggert," Charles says, "I didn't really expect you to believe me, given that all you could think about during my presentation was what sort of pie they were serving in the commissary. It's apple pecan. I haven't been entirely honest with you, love, I'm sorry. You see, one of the many spectacular things my mutation allows me to do is that I can read your mind."

"I've seen this before in a magic show. Are you gonna ask us to think of a number between one and ten now?" Stryker says, unimpressed with Charles.

"No, Agent Stryker. Although, I could ask you about your son, William, who you were thinking about, which is very nice. But I think I'd rather ask you about the Jupiter missiles America is currently placing in Turkey," Charles says, looking into Stryker's mind.

"He's a goddamn spy. You brought a goddamned spy into this facility!"

"I did not," Moira defends. They start arguing. The Agents are uphauled until Raven stands up and changes to look like one of the agents. The room goes quiet. Raven changes into her blue form. As one of the men try, and fail, to lift his mug, Gabrielle uses her telekinetic powers to prevent it from breaking.

"How's that for a magic trick?" Charles asks the agents, who are all speechless.

"Best I've ever seen," the man in black replies.

"I want them out of here," the Senator exclaims, "And locked down until I can figure out what to do."

"My facility is off-site. I'll take 'em," the man in black suggests.

"I can't believe this," Moira says, walking through the hall, talking to an agent, "You think the director of the CIA would have a little more composure. We should be going after Shaw right now, but instead he's up three worrying about the wrong mutants What are we gonna do, Levene? Levene? Levene, what's wrong with you?" She looks at him, but he's frozen at the water fountain.

" _Absolutely nothing,_ " Charles says telepathically, " _I've just frozen him for a moment 'cause I'd like to talk to you. It's good, isn't it? I'm as interested in this Sebastian Shaw as you are. And if you still want my help, meet me on the third floor of the parking garage_."

"I've always known that there were people like you out there. I've been the laughingstock of this agency for years, but I knew it. You're gonna love my facility," The man in black tells Charles, excited.

"That's gonna have to wait," Charles says.

"Why?"

"Agent MacTaggert has a lead on Sebastion Shaw, and if we don't move now, apparently, we're gonna lose him."

"What?!"

"Not only can he read minds, he can communicate with them as well," Raven explains to him. Moira pulls up towards them in her car and Raven gets in.

"Moira and I have just had a lovely conversation," Charles tells him.

"Yes, we did," Moira agrees.

"That is incredible!" the man says, excitedly.

"You're such a show off, brother," Gabi says, "you aren't the only telepath."

"But... I-I cannot take you anywhere else without permission from upstairs," the man in black tells them.

"Would you like to see one more magic trick?" Charles asks.

"Okay."

"Get in the car," Charles says, using his powers on the man.

"Okay," the man says, getting into the car. They drive the docks and meet up with the Coast Guard. They have a lead on Shaw's yacht. They are able to head out on one of the Coast Guard's boats. Charles monitors the situation with his powers.

"I've lost Shaw," Charles informs his friends, "there's someone blocking me. This has never happened to me before. I think there's someone like me on that boat."

"Someone is in the water, he's going after Shaw in his sub," Gabi says, ignoring the fact that Charles forgets he's not the only telepath there, "he has so much anger."

"I feel him too," Charles says, "I've got to stop him." Gabrielle rolls her eyes and dives into the water.

"Gabrielle!" Charles yells. She swims to Erik and grabs him around his chest.

' _Let it go! You have to let it go!' Gabrielle says telepathically, 'You can't. You'll drown. You have to let go. I know what this means to you, but you're going to die. Please, Erik, calm your mind. Your sister is waiting for you.'_

"Get off me!" Erik exclaims after they surface. She moves back, breathing heavily.

"Who are you?" He asks her.

"My name is Gabrielle Xavier."

"You were in my head," he tells her, "how did you do that?"

"You have your tricks, I have mine," Gabi says, "I'm like you. Just calm your mind."

"I thought I was alone," Erik says, "I thought my sister and I were the only ones. How do you know about Jessica?"

"Jessica and I are best friends," she tells him, "you aren't alone, not anymore."

"How do we get back to shore?" Erik asks, "and now do I know I'll have another chance?"

"We have a boat and we are going after Shaw too," Gabi says, starting to swim towards the Coast Guard's boat. He follows her back to the boat and they're both pulled out of the water. Gabi looks at her siblings as they both fume with anger, she laughs nervously and tries to hide behind Erik.

"Gabrielle, that was completely reckless!" Charles exclaims.

"Someone had to do it!" Gabi defends, still behind Erik.

"'Someone' doesn't necessarily mean you," Charles says.

"So I am supposed to be on the sidelines, as usual?"

"You could have gotten hurt," Charles says, "and why are you hiding behind Erik?"

"It's a habit from school, hiding from bullies," Gabi mumbles. Erik sidesteps so that Gabi is no longer behind him.

"Let's head to my base," the man in black says.

Soon they are at his facility. The man takes them to his lab and introduces the lab techs to the mutants.

"Welcome to my facility," he says, "My mission has been to investigate the application of paranormal powers in military defense."

"So...this is where we will be staying and working?" Gabi asks.

"Yes," the man says, "this guy, Shaw, Schmidt, whatever you want to call him, he's working with the Russians. We might need your help to stop him."

"Of course," Charles says.

"Guys, I'd like you to meet Doctor Hank McCoy. He's one of my very talented young researchers," the man introduces them to a brunette man wearing glasses and a lab coat.

"How wonderful. Another mutant already here," Charles says, going to shake Hank's hand, "Why didn't you say?"

"Say what?" The man in black asks.

"Because you don't know," Charles says, turning to Hank, "I am so, so terribly sorry."

"It's okay," Hank says.

"Hank?" the man in black asks.

"You didn't ask, so I didn't tell."

"So, your mutation is what? You're super smart?" Raven asks.

"I'll say. Hank here graduated Harvard at the age of 15," Charles says.

"I wish that all it was," Hank says solemnly.

"You're among friends now, Hank. You can show off," Charles tells him. Hank takes off his shoes and sock to reveal the mutation on his feet. They look more like primate feet than human feet, "Splendid."

"I'm sorry," Hank says. He feels bad for not telling them about it. He jumps and then he is hanging upsdown from a model plane that is hanging from the ceiling.

"You're amazing," Raven says.

"Really? I-I promised myself I'd find a cure, ever since I was a little boy. You have no idea what I'd give to feel..." Hank says, jumping back to the ground.

"Normal," Hank and Raven say together. They smile and laugh a little.

"Do you think they remember that we are here?" Gabi asks, a smirk on her face.

"Probably not," Erik says.

"So, is there anything we should know bout or can we relax?"

"Well, there is Cerebro," Hank says, "I created it to help find other mutants, but I can't get it to work because I need a telepath."

"Well, good thing you have two," Gabi smiles.

"It's sort of late," Hank says, "we can test it tomorrow. You should all get some rest."

"Right, see you guys tomorrow," Gabi winks at Erik before walking off. She is very observant and noticed the area where the bedrooms are. They all settle into the bedrooms, which are two people to a room. Raven and Gabi share a room while Charles and Erik share another.

"This is interesting," Raven settles into her bed.

"Yea, it is," Gabi agrees, looking up at the ceiling.

"What's on your mind?" Raven turns and looks at her.

"Everything," Gabi answers, "it's just...things are changing so fast."

"I know, but now we can make a difference in the world," Raven says, "besides, they need us to stop Shaw."

"I know."

"So, what do you think of the new guy?" Raven asks, "you did save him."

"He certainly is something. I saw everything in his mind, I need a bit more control over my powers."

"Well, Jess will be happy to see him, I'm sure."

"She'll be over the moon when they are together again."

"Well, good night," Raven turns the light off.

"Good night." They both go to sleep, having a long day ahead of them. In the other room, Charles was reading a book.

"When do I get to see my sister again?" Erik asks him.

"In a few days," Charles answers.

"Okay," Erik says, "is she alright? I've been looking for her for years now."

"She's fine. She's been living with us for a few just finished her last year as an undergraduate at college."

"Wow. That's amazing," Erik says, "I've been so worried about her, but I guess I didn't need to be."

"If it wasn't for my sister Jessica probably wouldn't have everything she does."

"What do you mean?" Erik asks.

"Jessica was living on the street when my sister found her," Charles explains, putting his book down, "Gabrielle invited her to our home and to join her at school."

"Well, that was nice of her," Erik says, "you don't meet too many people like that. Most people are just out to help themselves."

"Gabrielle has always had a big heart, always wanting to help others. She started volunteering her time to help the homeless and those who came to this country to get away from those who hate them."

"Sounds like you've got a great sister," Erik says, "I did my best to protect Jess, but it's not exactly easy when you're plucked out of the crowd and experimented on."

"I understand, you did your best. Jessica would talk fondly about you with Gabrielle."

"Sounds like you know her pretty well," Erik says.

"I do, but not as well as my sister."

"I'm glad she's safe," Erik says, "I can't wait to see her again. Well, good night."

"Good night," Charles says, turning off the light.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone. Welcome to chapter three. I hope you enjoy it.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the canon characters or the plot line of First Class.**

* * *

"It takes brain waves and amplifies them to help locate other mutants. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to use it because it needs a telepath. But now you can use it to find more mutants," Hank tells them in the morning, explaining to them how Cerebro works as they walk to the machine.

"Are we sure we should be exposing people?" Erik asks, "That's how it starts, with identification."

"You don't have to do it publicly," Hank says.

"If we're going to do this, it needs to be us finding the new mutants. They should be discovered by their own kind," Erik says.

"So,who's going to go and recruit the mutants?" Raven asks.

"Charles and I will recruit them after he finds them," Erik says, "The rest of you are safer here, I believe."

"Alright, so I'm guess Charles will locate the mutants too?" Gabi asks, crossing her arms.

"We don't know that this machine works. It's better that I do it," Charles says, "besides, I've got more control over my powers than you do."

"Let's just get this started." They enter into the machine. It's spherically shaped, filled with machinery. In the center is a place for a telepath to stand and a helmet.

"It'll work better if you shave your head," Hank tells him.

"There is no way our brother is going to do that," Raven and Gabi say.

"Alright, fine," Hank says. He sets the helmet onto Charles's head and activates the machine, which writes down the coordinates of the mutants that Charles finds with his mind. After a while, Charles and Erik leave to talk to the mutants. Not all of them wanted to admit about their abilities or didn't want to join them.

"Maybe we should skip this next one," Charles says, "The coordinates are a strip club."

"We still should go, just in case," Erik says.

"Fine," he says and follows the older man into the club. He looks around and immediately finds the girl that they are looking for, "It's her, with the tattoos. She's got wings. But how do we get her to talk to us?"

"A private show," Erik smirks.

"Erik…." Charles says.

"It is the only way, Charles."

"Just don't do anything to the girl, okay? We need her to join us," he says.

"Fine, I won't."

"Good. Go give her some money," Charles says, clearly not okay with this whole thing.

"Fine, I wonder what that brunette girl would look like dressed like this," Erik mumbles as he goes to pay the girl, forgetting that Charles could still heard what he said.

"Hey! That is my little sister!" Charles exclaims.

"Well, she's hot!"

"Erik!"

Erik laughs as he pays the girl for a private show. They both go to the area and sit back on the bed, side by side and wait for the girl.

"You cats know it's double for both, right?" she asks.

"We were thinking we'll show you ours life you show us yours," Erik says.

"Oh, baby, that's not how it works in this business," she says.

"More champagne, Charles?" Erik asks, using his abilities to lift up the bucket that has the champagne.

"My turn," Angel says, freeing her wings and flying a little. Charles and Erik smile at each other.

"We were wondering if you'd like to join a team we're putting together," Charles says, "For people like us."

"A team?" Angel asks, "Really?"

"Are you interested?" Erik asks.

"Why not?" Angel asks, "it's gotta be better than working here." Charles and Erik smile, that is one down, now they just have a few more to talk to. The next one they find is a cab driver. They climb into the backseat of the cab.

"Where to, fellas?" Darwin asks, looking in his rear view mirror.

"Richmond, Virginia, please," Erik answers.

"Right, so you want, uh, airport, the station, what?"

"No, we were rather hoping you would take us all the way," Charles says.

"That's a six-hour drive," Darwin says.

"That will give us plenty of time to talk," Erik says, the he uses his power to move the cab meter. They tell him all about the team on the way there and Darwin agrees to join them.

"What the hell does the government want with a guy like Alex Summers?" A prison guard asks at the next place the stop off at. Alex isn't dangerous, he just accidentally destroyed a building with his powers, "Hope you're not planning on putting him with others. First guy I've ever met who actually prefers solitary confinement."

"Hello, Alex, I'm Charles Xavier, this is Erik Lehnsherr. How would you like to learn how to use your powers for good?"

"I'm listening," Alex tells him. After they explain the team, he's on board with joining.

"Crazy, huh?" Sean says, flirting with a girl. They're by a giant fish tank, both looking into it.

"What?" The girl asks him.

"Hmm? You like fish. I like fish, too. Maybe we should get a bite sometime and talk about it."

"I'd rather go out with the fish," the girl says, walking away. Sean looks at the tank before lightly using his powers to scare the fish.

"These fish?" Sean asks her, making her stop for a second but she leaves anyway. That's when Charles and Erik walk in and he's on board right away.

"Next one is in this bar," Charles says, looking at the coordinates.

Eric and Charles walk into a bar and approach Logan as he is smoking a cigar.

"Excuse me, I'm Erik Lehnsherr," Erik says, standing behind Logan.

"Charles Xavier," Charles introduces.

"Go fuck yourselves," Logan dismisses them and they turn around and leave the var, knowing that this guy won't cooperate.

"Where to next?" Erik asks Charles.

"A surf shop," Charles answers.

"Where?" Erik ask as they head down the street.

"Sunset Beach, North Carolina."

"Alright, then we can head back to the base," Erik says. They fly to North Carolina and go into the surf shop.

"Welcome," a young woman says, her blue eyes and slightly blue hair standing out, "what can I do for you dudes?"

"I think it's more about what we can do for you," Charles says, "how would you like to help save the world?"

"Save the world? Are you two insane?"

"No," Charles says, "I'm Charles Xavier, this is Erik Lehnsherr. We're like you. And we've been gathering a team."

"How can I trust you Bennies?" she asks, her surfer's slang coming through.

' _Because we need your help,'_ Charles tells her telepathically.

"Sure, I'll join ya."

"Great. Well, would you like to come back to our base with us?" Charles says, "we can fill you in on the way there."

"Sure, where is it?"

"Virginia," Erik says, "mind telling us your name, Surfer Girl?"

"Name's Desiree O'Connor," she answers, "Bummer, there's no surf up there. Oh well."

"Well, if all goes well, you can go back to your life in a few months, if you'd like."

"I'll see." They go back to the base and get back just in time to have dinner. The other recruits are already there, socializing with each other a bit. Charles hopes that everyone gets along.

"Here's the food," Gabi says, placing the food on the table. They all enjoy their dinner.

"Wow, this is really good," Erik says, "where'd you learn to cook?"

"I learned a lot in my home ec class in high school," Gabi says, "I also minored in Culinary."

"I'm glad someone paid attention in home ec," Charles says, "I was a little busy."

"Busy with what?" Gabi asks.

"It's not my fault that they put me next to the girl that I liked back then," Charles says.

"Of course." They all use dinner to talk a little about themselves to get to know each other a little better.

After dinner was finished Gabrielle gathers all of the plates to go and clean them alone.

"Hey," Erik walks in.

"Hm? Oh, hi Erik," Gabrielle smiles as she cleans.

"Want some help?" he asks her.

"Are you sure? I can do it myself."

"Sure, the more hands, the better," he says, "Although, I don't think your brother would like me helping you very much."

"He's always been protective with me," Gabrielle says.

"I can tell," Erik says, picking up a towel and drying the dishes as she washes them, "I'm sort of the same way. Only I haven't seen my sister in a while. I always thought one of Shaw's men got ahold of her."

"I guess it's a big brother thing," Gabi says.

"I spent years tracking down Shaw's men. Trying to get information out of them about Shaw and my sister's locations," Erik says, "and then killing them for what they'd done to us."

"You've killed people?"

"Lots of them," Erik says, "they were all Nazis that avoided getting caught by the police. I just did to them what would have happened if they had been caught. Although, I made it a little more painful."

"Oh."

"They deserved it. How would you feel after listening to your sister's screams from being tortured and not being able to do anything?" Erik says, "eventually she learned not to scream. I'm not sure what was worse: the screaming or the silence."

"I am so sorry, Erik," Gabi says, looking at him, "I wish there was something I could do for you."

"There isn't," Erik says, "all that's left is killing Shaw. I've had it planned for years."

"W-what about after that?"

"I'm not sure. Be with my sister. Try to move on with my life and be happy," Erik says.

"That sounds nice. I am so sorry you had to go through everything. But I am sure you will be happy one day," Gabi smiles.

"Thanks," he says. They finish washing the dishes. Erik and Charles go to talk to the man who owns the base while the rest of the team hangs out together.

They soon find out about a lead on Shaw going to the USSR, so Charles and Erik head off to see if they can stop him and prevent his plan from going any further. The team sit around to talk.

"If we're government agents, we should have code names," Raven says, "I wanna be Mystique." She shows off her powers to the others. Charles and Erik had brought back a few new mutants that day and were off meeting with some CIA agents about a mission or something.

"I'll go with Nymph," Desiree says, moving water to her will.

"I wanna be called Banshee," the boy with the curly red hair says.

"Why do you wanna be named after a wailing spirit?" One of the others ask, so he shows off his powers, only meaning to shatter a glass, but instead shattering the glass wall of the room they are in.

"I think it fits," Raven says.

"Well, Angel is my stage name," she stands up, "And it kinda fits." She lets her wings loose.

"It does," the guys say.

"What about you?" Raven asks one of the other guys.

"Well, Darwin is already a nickname," he says, standing up, "It already fits. Adapt to survive." He puts his head in the fish tank and he grows gills. He turns his head and smiles at his friends, mouth open.

"I think Hank should go with Beast," Gabrielle says looking at her new best friend.

"I guess," Hank says, then looks at Alex, "What about you? What can you do?"

"It's not really something I can do inside," he says.

"He's right, I have seen his powers," Gabrielle agrees.

"So do it outside," someone suggests and others chorus an agreement.

"Fine," he stands up and walks outside, "Get back." They do for a moment, but then peek their heads out again.

"Get back," he repeats. They do the same thing they did before, "Whatever." He suddenly has red rings of energy around his waist, almost like hula hoops. He moves his hips in a circular motion and they fly off, one splitting the statue in half. Then, Alex walks back into the building.

"Nice," Darwin and Banshee say.

"What name are you going to go with?" Angel asks and Alex.

"I don't know," Alex replies, "I'm not creative."

"What about Havok ?" Gabrielle suggests.

"I like Havok," Alex says, "thanks for the idea." He turn and half smiles at Gabi.

"You're welcome," Gabrielle smiles, "What about me? I can't think of anything."

"You're a mind reader, right?" Alex asks.

"Yes and I can moves things with my mind too," Gabi answers, taking Sean's cookie.

"Oracle?" Desiree suggests, "maybe Delphi?"

"Oracle or Delphi?" Gabi hums.

"Sorry, I've got a thing for mythology…" Desiree says.

"I'll go with Oracle," Gabi smiles, "We should give my brother and Charles names too."

"Erik's can be Magneto," Alex says, "Charles...um..."

"Professor X," Raven says, "I mean, he's got the degree." And on that note, everyone had a new name. The kids turn on their music and start to party, not worrying about the consequences.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm lazy, okay? I'm sorry I haven't been updating. But I'm enjoying the end of my summer. School starts back up at the end of the month. So, I've been doing nothing but eating, sleeping, playing Zoo Tycoon and watching Arrow on Netflix. That's right, TheOtherAvenger is now a traitor. I've crossed over to the dark side. But here you go.**

* * *

Next thing the partying teens know, Moira, Charles and Erik walk into the room.

"What are you doing? Who destroyed the statue?" Moira exclaims when they see what is happening.

"It was Alex," Hank answers.

"No. Havok. We have to call him Havok," Raven says, "That's his name now. And we were thinking, you should be Professor X, and you should be Magneto." She points to Charles and Erik.

"Exceptional," Erik says. He leaves, followed by Moira.

"I expect more from you two!" Charles says, looking at his sisters before leaving.

In the morning, before any of the younger mutants are awake, the pair of older men along with CIA members fly to a Russia. They take a truck to the General's mansion and stake out in the woods, hoping that Shaw would show.

"Someone is inside with the General," Charles says, "But it's not Shaw. I think it's his telepath friend."

"Maybe she knows where he is," Erik stands up and heads towards the mansion, taking out the guards on his own.

"He's going to start World War Three single-handedly!" One of the agents says, "We gotta get out of here."

"I can't leave him," Charles gets up and follows Erik inside the mansion.

When they enter the mansion they find the general under some type of illusion and Emma sitting on the couch. Emma immediately stands up and turns herself into diamond form.

"I can't read her mind in this form," Charles says.

"I can handle that," Erik says. Charles watches as Erik uses his powers to pull her to the bedframe and into a sitting position. He moves the bars on the frame to wrap around her arms, but when that doesn't work, he wraps it around her neck as well.

"Erik, that's enough," Charles says, but Erik ignores it, wrapping it tighter around her neck, trying to force her back, "Erik," but Erik doesn't stop until the diamond all but breaks and Emma is forced back into normal form. Charles bends down and reads her mind. In it, he sees Shaw's plan: put US missiles in Turkey and then get the USSR to put some in Cuba to start World War Three.

"This is worse than we imaged," Charles says.

"What is it?" Erik asks.

"Shaw means to start a third World War," Charles says, "A nuclear one."

"Damn him."

"We need to get back to the agents and back to America. There has to be a way to stop this," Charles says.

"Good luck with that, Charles," Emma says, "you will have better luck alone than with those other mutants."

"I don't believe that," Charles says, "If we work as a team, we can stop Shaw. And we will."

"Ha, I bet that one girl will be a problem. What's her name again? Gabrielle?"

"That's my sister!" Charles snaps, "Don't you dare talk about her like that!"

"And why is that? Isn't she the weakest one? The one who cannot follow rules?"

"Get out of my head," Charles growls, "My thoughts are my business, not yours!" He tries to force her out.

"But her powers seem stronger though. If only she could tap into her true power. I am sure Shaw would love to get his hands on her."

"Leave him alone," Erik says, making the bar around her neck tighter again.

"Good luck with her, both of you," Emma barley gets out before passing out. Charles is uncharacteristically very, very angry now. No one talks about his family like that.

"Charles, let's head home," Erik says, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Fine," he says, brushing Erik's hand off.

Meanwhile, back at the compound, the other are hanging out in the room they were in before. They aren't causing as much damage anymore. Suddenly, the CIA agents that were guarding them start falling from the sky, being dropped by Azazel, who kills all the agents.

"Good evening. My name's Sebastian Shaw. And I'm not here to hurt you," Shaw appears in front of the group, who look terrified and don't know what to do, "My friends, there's a revolution coming. When mankind discovers who we are, what we can do, each of us will face a choice. Be enslaved or rise up to rule. Choose freely, but know that if you are not with us, then by definition, you are against us. So, you can stay and fight for the people who hate and fear you. Or you can join me, and love like kings and queens." They look at each other before Angel looks at Shaw and walks over and takes his hand.

"Angel?" Raven and Gabi ask.

"Are you kiddin' me?" Alex asks.

"Come on. We don't belong here. And that's nothing to be ashamed of," Angel says. Darwin tries to stop her from leaving.

"We have to do something," Raven says, watching Shaw and Angel walk away. Alex and Darwin look at each other, waiting for the other to do something. They shove each other before Darwin stops Shaw and his men from leaving.

"I'm coming with you," Darwin walks towards them. Gabi uses this opportunity to use her powers to try and get into Shaw's head.

"Get out of my head!" He yells, "The girl's a telepath! Kill her!" Azazel goes to Gabi and grabs her before disappearing.

"Gabrielle!" Raven yells. Next thing they know Gabi is falling, before catching herself with her telekinetic powers. She hits the ground with a soft thud.

"Now that that girl is dead," Shaw says, walking up to Darwin, "tell me about your mutation."

"Well, I adapt to survive," Darwin says, "so, I guess I'm coming with you." He walks over and they line up to get ready to leave.

"ALEX!" Darwin yells to signal him.

"Get down!" Alex calls as he activates his powers. Darwin uses his powers to protect Angel as Alex attacks Shaw and his men. But Shaw just absorbs the energy.

"Protecting your fellow mutants?" Shaw asks, "that's a noble feels good." Darwin goes to attack him, but all the extra energy Shaw had just absorbed gave him extra power.

"Adapt to this," Shaw says and puts a ball of energy into Darwin's mouth. Darwin turns to silver as Shaw's men leave. Then, Darwin turns to rock before exploding.

When Charles and Erik arrive back at the the base, the place is crawling with law enforcement looking for survivors in the wreckage.

"Raven? Gabi?" Charles approaches the group, who are sitting outside the wreckage, "are you alright?"

"She hasn't moved since she landed," Raven says, holding her little sister's limp body.

"None of these agents have thought to call an ambulance?" Charles asks.

"They are on their way," Raven answer as Gabi coughs and gasps for air.

"Gabi? Can you hear me?" Charles asks, "everything is going to be okay. I promise."

"B-brother?" Gabi coughs, "I..I tried to stop him."

"It's me," Charles says, "it's alright, help is on the way."

"I...I saw everything...all of his plans..."

"Don't talk, just rest," Charles says, "you can tell me when you're better, okay?" She coughs and rests against her sister.

"As for the rest of you, we've made arrangements for you to go home immediately," Erik tells them.

"We're not going home," Sean says.

"What?" Charles asks him.

"He's not going back to prison," Sean says, looking at Alex.

"They killed Darwin," Alex says, "and tried to kill Gabrielle."

"All the more reason for you to leave. This is over," Charles says, "I can't have any of you risking your lives for us."

"Darwin's dead, Charles. And we can't even bury him," Raven says.

"We can avenge him," Erik says.

"Erik, a word please," Charles says. The pair walks away from the group, out of earshot, "They're just kids."

"No. They were kids," Erik says, "Shaw has his army. We need ours."

"We'll have to train. All of us," Charles tell them, reluctantly agreeing to let them help, "Yes?"

"Yeah," Alex answers, the others nodding.

"We can't stay here," Hank says, "Even if they re-opened the department, it's not safe. We've got nowhere to go."

"Yes we do," Charles says, "Raven, take them home. I'll join you as soon as Gabi is able to be moved there. Erik, until then, you're in change."

"Of course," Erik says as the medics take Gabrielle.

"Keep us updated with her condition, okay?" Raven asks.

"I will," Charles says as the ambulance arrives and the paramedics get Gabi onto a gurney and into the ambulance after taking her vitals.

"Which one of you are family?" One paramedic asks.

"She's my sister," Charles tells them, "is she going to be okay?"

"Her vitals are fine, but we will take her to the hospital to see if she has any internal damages."

"Alright. Can I ride with her?" Charles asks them.

"Of course." Charles says goodbye to the others and gets into the ambulance. They leave to take Gabi to the hospital.

"Well, next stop, Westchester, New York," Raven says, "great news, Erik you get to see your sister again."

"Really?" Erik asks.

"Yes," Raven says, "although, I'm not sure she'll like all the company." They get on a plane and fly up to Westchester. They get a car and Raven drives to the mansion.

"Welcome to the Xavier mansion," Raven says when they arrive.

"This is yours?" Sean asks, staring at the mansion from the outside, "this place is huge."

"No, it's ours," Raven says.

"Honestly, Raven, I don't know how you survived, living in such hardship," Erik says sarcastically.

"I didn't start living here until I was about six or so," Raven tells the as she leads them inside, "Charles let me stay and his parents were very loving."

"This place is enormous," Alex says as she shows them around the mansion.

"This place was built by Charles and Gabrielle's great grandparents. Their family has been extremely wealthy for generations."

"I can tell," Erik says, "so, any idea where my sister is? As much as I love the tour, I'd rather be united with the person I've been looking for for years."

"She's either in the backyard near the pool or up in her room. Down the right hall, third door on the left."

"Thanks," Erik says, then heads off to find his little sister. He looks out the window to see if she is in the backyard. Underneath a big tree is a girl with a pencil in hand and a notebook in her lap. He smiles and heads out back, he heads towards a little cautiously not wanting to scare her.

"Stay away from me!" She jumps up when she hears footsteps. She doesn't even look at the person approaching her, she clutches her notebook to her chest.

"Beruhigen, es ist meine kleine Schwester," Erik says.

"Erik? Was machst du hier?" Jess ask, slowly approaching him.

"Ich bin hier, Shaw, zu stoppen, aber vor allem mit Ihnen, kleine Schwester zu sein."

"Wie weiß ich, dass du es bist wirklich?" Jess asks him.

"You love the song mother would sing to us," Erik says, "I even sang it to you when we were together in the camp."

"Why were you gone for so long?" Jess asks him.

"I thought Shaw and his men got you. I followed his trail to kill him and get you. Then I learn you are here, safe and sound."

"Where's Gabi?" Jess asks, "I've missed her. She's been gone a while. I'm not big on the alone thing."

"She's in a hospital in Virginia," Erik tells her, getting closer to her, "she was injured by one of Shaw's men."

"What?" She whispers, "is she gonna be okay? She's the only friend I have."

"Her vitals are fine, we will be hearing from Charles soon on her condition."

"Okay, that's good," she says, sitting back down.

"I'm surprised she survived the fall," Erik says, sitting next to her, "she's very strong."

"What exactly happened to her?" Jess asks her brother.

"From what I was told, she was trying to read Shaw's mind when he figured out it was her. One of his men took her high into the air and dropped her."

"Wow, that sounds really painful," Jess says, "I hope she comes back soon."

"I owe her, if it wasn't for her I may not be here."

"Well, I'm glad you're here," she says, moving a over away from him a little.

"Something wrong?" Erik asks her.

"I don't like people being close to me," she tells him.

"Still jumpy from everything huh?"

"Can you blame me?" She asks him, "I don't even like people touching me. Even just a little."

"You'll need to get over that."

"Why?"

"So you can try and have a normal life."

"I don't see that happening," Jess says, "I'll probably just stay here for the rest of my life."

"Maybe you should hang out with more people. Starting with the others who are now living here."

"I don't know…." Jess says, "I'm not a people person."

"I'm sure they will be nice with you. Just be careful of Alex and Sean, they can be a bit of a handful."

"Noted," Jess says.

"Jess! Erik!" Raven calls, "Charles is on the phone!"

"Is she alright?" Erik asks.

"Just a broken wrist and some bruising," Raven answers.

"When will she be home?" Jess asks.

"Tomorrow at the latest."

"That's good," Jess says, "I'll be in my room." Erik joins the others as Jess goes to her room.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm lazy and forgetful. I'm sorry. I'll try to post more. But here's chapter five.**

* * *

"Is everyone alright?" Gabi asks Charles as the doctor puts her cast on.

"Yeah, they're fine. They're back at the mansion," Charles says.

"Thank god," she sighs, "if only I stopped him, then all of them would be alive. I couldn't save Darwin.."

"That wasn't your fault," Charles says, "but Shaw will pay for what he's done."

"I saw everything he's ever done. What he did to Erik and Jess, now I understand why Jess acts the way she does."

"I just hope she comes around," Charles says, "she seems like a good kid."

"She's great, she is my best friend," Gabi smiles, "I want to help her anyway I can."

"You seem close to her," Charles says, "how do I connect to her? I want to help?"

"Being nice and proving you mean her no harm is how to start. It took me forever to get her to trust me, but it may not take long for you. I told her about you a lot."

"I'll see what I can do. I want to make her comfortable in our home, especially with all the others being there as well," Charles says, "we'll head there as soon as you can be released."

"I'm surprised I was able to save myself," Gabi says as the doctor leaves, "I didn't think I could catch people."

"Well, I'm glad you're alright," Charles says, "get some rest."

"Mr. Xavier," a nurse says, "may I speak with you?"

"Yes," Charles stands up and walks over to the nurse.

"Your sister may be released soon, we just need you to sign some papers," she says, "your sister is extremely lucky to survive a fall like that. She should be back at top form in two weeks."

"Alright, thank you," Charles says, "where can I find these papers?"

"Right at the desk here."

"Thank you," Charles says. He fills out the paperwork and gives it to one of the nurses. The nurses get Gabi ready to head home, they give her medication for the pain and tell her not to use her wrist for a few weeks. The two of them head off and return back to the mansion.

The others have settled into the mansion and are waiting for Charles and Gabi to arrive.

"Hello everyone," Charles says as they enter the living room.

"You're back," Erik says, "that's good. I'm glad everything is alright."

"Thank you, Erik," Gabi says, a small smile on her face, "I am going to rest."

"Alright. I'll see you later, then," Erik smiles at her, "Jess missed you, by the way." Gabi blushes and quickly goes to Jess's room. Raven smirks, her little sister is being shy.

"Gabi?" Jess looks up when the door opens up, "you're back? How are you feeling?"

"B-better," Gabi stammers, sitting on Jess's bed. Her face is still a little red.

"Are you blushing?" Jess asks her.

"Maybe."

"What happened?" Jess asks her, "details, Gabi."

"I'm not entirely sure, your brother seemed really worried and his smile just...just made me so shy."

"You have a thing for Erik?" Jess asks her, "why?"

"I don't know if I do, he just seems to have a sweet side no one sees. But I was somehow able to get it out."

"Well, he's my brother," Jess says, "so, be careful. You guys are the only two people I have and I don't want to have to choose between you."

"I would never, ever, make you choose between me or Erik," Gabi says, "I swear. I bet you will have more people in your life soon, I know my brother wants to get to know you."

"I don't like people," she says, "I'd rather not socialize with them."

"I know, but you need more friends Jess. I know that none of these people here will hurt you. They just to get to know the real you."

"I'd rather just stay in here," Jess says.

"Please Jess, you had at least a few friends in college. Why not here? They will be living here after all."

"I'm not using my powers," Jess tells her.

"I understand that, Jess. I do, but we may need your help."

"No."

"Fine, I better go and rest," Gabi says, leaving Jess's room and going to her own. Jess goes back to her writing.

The next morning, Gabi is in the kitchen cooking everyone breakfast. It is going slower than usual since she is working with only one arm.

"Want some help?" Desiree asks her, walking into the kitchen.

"Thank you, Desiree," Gabi smiles, "it's more difficult than I realized without one hand."

"Don't worry, I am used to helping," Desiree says, taking over the eggs while Gabi handles the toast and bacon, "I had to help cook for 20 kids."

"20?"

"Foster care, my parents own it. I would help out a lot with the kids. Maybe you should take it easy, I can handle breakfast."

"Maybe I'll make a schedule, we have plenty of people to help with the chores," Gabi says, going to make a schedule. Desiree finishes the cooking as the others, plus Jess, come down. They all sit around for breakfast. They all have nice small conversations, even getting Jess to join in. She doesn't say much, she's too busy observing the group. Everyone is so nice and inviting. Still, she's unsure of being in a group with this many people. It will take time for her to get used to having all of them around.

After breakfast, Jess volunteers to clean up and she clears the table and starts washing dishes. In the dining room, they go over what will be happening the next few months.

"We need to start training right away," Charles says, "you need to use your powers to their full extent. Also, you need to know how to fight without them. And be in good physical condition."

"So, who's going to be in charge of training?" Sean asks.

"I am," Charles says.

"When do we start?" Raven asks.

"In an hour," Charles, "dress in clothes you can work out in."

"Can I join brother?" Gabi asks.

"I'd rather you just help me coach," Charles says, "until you are healed."

"Alright."

"I'll see you all outside in an hour, alright?" Charles asks, "Don't be late." They all go off in different directions to change.

The team is outside, gathered, exactly an hour later. Charles stands in front of the group with Gabrielle at his side.

"Alright, team, first I need assess your physical shape," Charles says, "I want you to run around the mansion four times."

"What!?" the team yells.

"You heard him," Gabi says.

"And don't use your powers," Charles says, "Go!" They all take off running. Charles keeps an eye on them to see who is in the best shape and to see who needs some help. Gabi keeps them focused.

"I don't mean to tell you how to do your job," Erik tells Charles after his last lap, "but shouldn't we be practicing with our powers instead of running around?"

"Physical strength helps the strength of your powers," Gabi explains, "if you are physically strong you powers will be stronger."

"So what now, boss?" Erik asks, "do you want us to undress and start swimming in your pool or something? Or are we going to be lifting weights?"

"The first option doesn't sound too bad," Gabi winks at him before blushing and turning away.

"Well, it can arranged," he tells her, "just tell me when."

"Brother, what's next?" Gabi asks, trying to calm her burning face.

"Get to the roof of the mansion," Charles tells them, "you are free to use your abilities for this." They all head to the roof of the mansion. It's interesting to watch them try to get up there.

"This is gonna be a fun couple of month," Charles tells his sister, "I've got lots of ideas."

"Oh no, knowing you we are going to hate you by the end of training."

"Maybe. Maybe not. But you'll certainly be in good shape and have great control of your powers," Charles says, "and hopefully your friend will join us by then."

"Me too and I am not too sure bout my powers. I am not that great."

"You'll get the hang of them. I did. And I didn't have any help with it," Charles says, "just be patient."

"Yea, I know."

"Good," Charles says, climbing the stairs to the roof to meet up with the team.

"So, what are we doing?" Alex asks.

"Is anyone afraid of heights?" Charles asks them.

"I'd be a pathetic surfer if I was," Desiree says as everyone shakes their heads.

"Really?" Charles asks, "are you all sure of that? Everyone have a seat." He settles down by the edge of the flat roof. The others join him, Sean is the only one who is a bit hesitant.

"Let's talk," Charles says, "if we're going to be a team, we have to bond. I want everyone to go around and tell the others your biggest fear." They all mumble, minus Erik, not really wanting to talk about it.

"Fine, I'll go first," Charles says, "I'm terrified of insects, spiders, scorpions, and snakes." Gabi and Raven snort, remembering the times they would scare him with fake ones.

"Who would like to share next?" Charles asks, "perhaps my sisters?"

"I will," Desiree says, "I'm terrified of...shark and drowning."

"I hate doctors and hospitals," Erik tells them.

"I'm a little scared...or a lot scared of heights," Sean says.

"I'm afraid of hurting innocent people," Alex says, "that's why I liked solitary confinement."

"I'm scared people will not like me for who I am," Raven says.

"I'm afraid of a lot of things," Jess says, standing by the doorway to the roof. No one had noticed her come up, "but I absolutely hate thunderstorms."

"My fear is the same as Raven's," Hank says.

"Care to share, Gabi?" Charles asks, "you're the last one."

"I..." Gabi mutters, "I'm absolutely terrified of being left alone and losing everyone."

"Now, I want you to tell everyone something that you love," Charles says, "and it can't be a person."

"I love the smell of the ocean and the surf," Desiree smiles, remembering the beach she grew up on.

"I love cats," Jess says from her spot in the doorway.

"I love playing soccer," Alex says.

"I love helping people," Charles says.

"I love making others happy and helping in anyway I can," Gabi says with a smile.

"I love chocolate chip cookies," Erik says, "especially the ones my mother made when I was a little boy."

"I love science," Hank says.

"I love painting," Sean says, "it's a hidden talent of mine."

"I love singing," Raven says, "especially when Gabi is playing the piano."

"I bet you are all wondering the point of this," Charles says, "but look at what you guys just did. You opened up to each other. Training isn't going to just be about the physical stuff. There is going to be stuff like this. Bonding. And there will be plenty of team building activities."

"That sounds nice," Desiree says.

"Also, I need everyone's favorite colors," Charles says, "because I think we should have official training uniforms." Gabi flips out her sketchbook to get started on the uniforms. They all talk for a while, getting to know each other to build up trust. The three girls notice that Erik is looking at Gabrielle a lot as they talk.

"Alright, I think that's enough bonding for one day," Charles says, "I'd wear earthy colors tomorrow, if possible, if I were you." They all split off to clean up and Gabrielle goes to cook for them.

"Need some help?" Jess asks her, walking into the kitchen.

"That would be great," Gabi smiles.

"Alright," Jess says, helping her, "I'm still not part of the team. I'm not using my powers."

"That's fine...by the way...do you know your mother's cookie recipe?"

"Of course I do," she says, "I made them so many times with her that it's branded into my head."

"Can you teach it to me?"

"Trying to impress my brother with cookies?" Jess asks her.

"I just want to make him happy," Gabi says, "he deserves it."

"We can make them after dinner," Jess says, "it's supposed to be a family recipe, but I suppose I can teach it to you."

"Thank you, Jessica." They continue to cook and soon finish and bringing it to the others who are in the dining room. They all eat dinner and talk like they've known each other for years, rather then a week. Sean tries to use his charm on Desiree, but she brushes him off easily.

"So, Desiree, do you think you can teach me to surf some time?" Alex asks her.

"Of course," Desiree smiles.

"I always wanted to learn, but I never got around to it," he says, "and you seem like you would be a great teacher."

"You will have to be careful, kook, the waves can be very choppy," Desiree says.

"I'll keep that in mind," Alex smiles at her.

"What does kook mean?" Raven asks.

"Is associated with a new surfer," Desiree answers.

"Do all surfers talk like that?" Erik asks her.

"Yes."

"This is really good food," Sean tells Jess and Gabi, "where'd you learn to cook so amazingly?"

"I minored in Culinary," Gabi answers.

"College, right. What was your major?" Sean asks her.

"Fashion and music."

"Wow, you must be really smart," Sean says.

"Well," Gabi blushes, "maybe a little."

"I mean it," he says, "not a lot of people go to college with two majors and a minor."

"Thank you."

"You know, my sister went to school too," Erik says.

"Why don't you tell them what you majored and minored in," Gabi smiles.

"Biology and creative writing," she says quietly.

"Really? That is awesome!" Alex says.

"I guess," she shrugs, "I do a lot of writing."

"I'm serious, it's amazing what you've done."

"It's not like I had two majors," she says, "I thought about medical school, but…"

"I only had two because I like both fashion and music," Gabi says, "I could never do science."

"It's not that hard," she says, "I like the hands on stuff."

"You are amazing at science."

"Maybe we can work together on some stuff," Hank tells her.

"Maybe," she says.

They all finish dinner and Gabi and Jess clean the dishes. After they are done with that, Jess starts to teach Gabi the cookie recipe.

"This brings back memories," Jess says sadly.

"Hopefully they are good ones, now that we here are your family."

"I miss my family," Jess says, "it's not the same. My mom's gone. Killed right in front of Erik and I."

"I am so sorry, but at least you have your brother."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Jess says, "I just wish they were still alive. I wish none of the stuff that happened had happened."

"There's a lot we wish was different. I wish my parents never had died or that my step brother was beaten and ran away," Gabi says.

"Step brother?" Jess asks.

"After our father passed away mom remarried his partner and he had a son. They didn't stay around very long."

"Why not?"

"Not sure."

"Oh," Jess says, "they didn't beat you or Charles, did they?"

"Not Charles, he would occasionally hit me," Gabi says, her hand slowing.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up," she says quickly, "never mind."

"It's okay, really."

"I know how painful the past can be," Jess says, "the memories are as bad as the real thing."

"Yea, it was hard...I didn't tell Charles until the sixth month of the beatings."

"It must have been hard to tell him," Jess says.

"It was, I was only seven at the time."

"Really? Wow," Jess says, "what happened? When did he leave?"

"He didn't leave until I was eight," Gabi says, "Mom finally found out what was going on and I think they divorced."

"Well, it least she got rid of him," Jess says, mixing in the chocolate chips to the dough.

"Yea."

"These are going to be the best cookies you ever taste," Jess asks, "where are your cookie sheets?"

"They are in the cupboard next to you, last shelf," Gabi answers.

"Thanks," she pulls them out and starts forming the cookies and placing them onto the pan. They put the sheets into the oven, they talk some more while they wait for the cookies.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm sure you all hate me by now. You're like 'This chick has this story written already and she's still not updating.' Well, this chick is sorry. I do have a good excuse. I'm at the end of my second week of my second year of college. Last week I literally had 12 plus hours of math homework on this stupid online program, on top of the reading and work I have to do for my creative writing class, my two sciences classes, and my German class. So, I've been busy with that (and Gilmore Girls to keep me from jumping out my window (not that I could because it doesn't open very much, which sucks because my room is about 12,000 degrees.)) Anyways, here you go.**

* * *

"Erik?" Gabi asks, knocking on his door.

"Come in," Erik tells her. Gabi uses her powers to open the door since she's carrying a plate of cookies and drinks.

"Cookies?" He asks her, looking up from the book he's reading.

"Yes, I was thinking they would make you happy."

"Have a seat," he pats a spot beside him on his bed. She blushes and sits down, carefully placing the plate and drinks down.

"They smell amazing," Erik says, picking one up and taking a bite of it.

"Thank you, Jess helped me make them," Gabi says, "I hope they are good."

"These are amazing," Erik says, "they taste like the ones from when I was a kid."

"I'm glad, I wanted to make them just like you remembered."

"That was nice of you," Erik smiles at her, "thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiles back.

"So, is there another reason you're here?" Erik asks her.

"I just wanted to make you happy, and I succeeded so...I'll go," Gabi says, standing up.

"Stay."

"You want me to?"

"Yeah, I do," he says, "I want to know you better." She smiles and sits back down, next to him.

"Tell me all about yourself," he says, "you've seen into my head. I want to see into yours."

"How about I show you," she says.

"What?" He asks. She focuses and uses her powers to show him everything about herself.

"Wow," he says, "how did you do that?"

"It's a skill I taught myself," she answers, "I was little when I last used it."

"Well, your childhood was definitely interesting," Erik says.

"I guess so."

"Better than mine," Erik says, "thank you for sharing with me." Little did they know, they opened a connection between the two of them. Gabi soon leaves the room, taking the empty glasses and plate. She soon heads to bed, happy to have had some time with Erik. Everyone heads to bed, wondering what's going to happen tomorrow. After breakfast everyone goes outside for Charles next team exercise.

"We're going into the woods," Charles tells them, "divide yourself into two teams." Alex, Desiree and Erik are one team while Sean, Hank and Raven are another.

"There is a flag hidden in the woods," Charles says, "the first team to find it wins. However, if you are tagged by someone from the other team, you are frozen for two minutes. Understand?"

"Yep," they all say.

"Split up. I'll give you five minutes to get as far away from the other team as possible. Then when you hear the horn, the game will start," Charles says, "my sister and I will use our powers to keep an eye on you." The team split off and head into the woods, once they are separated Charles sounds the horn. They search for the flag. The game lasts a few hours.

"Sean, we didn't give you permission to use your powers," Gabi says, "you too, Erik."

"You didn't say that we couldn't use our powers," Erik says.

"We never said you could either."

"Well, you should have specified," Erik says.

"I'm covered in mud," Alex says, "how did wandering through the woods help anyone?"

"You can survive some mud, bunny," Desiree says.

"Bunny? What's that slang for?" Alex asks.

"I just felt like calling you that. It's not slang for anything."

"Oh," Alex says, "are we done for the day, or are we going to talk about our feelings?"

"Actually, we're going to talk strategy," Charles says as they head to the mansion. For about two hours they talk about strategies, Gabrielle and Erik have more input since they have a lot of info on it.

"That's all for today," Charles say, "feel free to relax and do anything you want." Everyone split off to go and do something, the girls went out to the pool after changing.

"Today was a good day," Desiree says, settling beside the pool.

"Did you guys seen Sean's face during the talk?" Gabi asks, "he looked so confused."

"Yea he did. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed," Desiree says.

"But he will make a great team member," Raven says, getting into the pool.

"We all just have to work together," Desiree says, "and we'll win." They all relax, not realizing that Sean and Alex are watching.

"Desiree is so hot," Sean says, "Gabi's not bad either."

"Desiree isn't into you," Alex says, "and unless you want metal in your skull, I'd stay away from Gabi."

"Erik isn't into her and I will get Desiree to be mine."

"Erik is so into Gabi," Alex says, "it's obvious."

"How is it obvious?"

"It just is," Alex says, "if you pay even the littlest bit of attention, you'd know."

"Just tell me!"

"Body language, Sean. You can tell by how he acts around her."

"I'm gonna have to watch, now, I am going to flirt with Desiree," Sean says, walking towards the pool.

"Don't even think bout it, dude," Desiree says, not even looking at him.

"What?" Sean asks, "I was just going to join you."

"I know ya are lying, Sean," Desiree says, looking at him, "you wanted to come out here and make your move on me."

"I did no such thing," Sean says.

"We have a telepath with us. I am not going to be your surf-bunny."

"I'm not allowed to make friends?" Sean asks.

"I know you were coming here to flirt with her," Gabi says, "I could hear you."

"Fine. I'll leave," Sean says, leaving them alone.

"Told you," Alex says.

"Shut up," Sean goes inside the house. Alex looks back at the pool, Desiree is looking at him before she winks at him and dives into the water.

Jess is under her favorite tree writing in her journal.

"Hello, Jessica," Hank says, walking up.

"Hi," she says, "what's up? Do you need something?"

"I was hoping to talk to you about your major."

"Biology?" Jess asks, "what about it? I was focused mostly on Developmental Biology."

"That's actually what I was hoping. I am looking for some assistance on a little project."

"How can I help?" She asks, standing up.

"I am looking into helping Alex center his powers, but I need some help on figuring out what exactly his power is."

"Well, I'm sure we can figure it out," she says, "where's Alex? We'll need him."

"He's already in the lab, waiting," Hank says.

"Well, let's go then," Jess says. They head inside and into the lab. They have Alex use his powers so they can see what it is like, of course it destroys some of the tables. After they take some samples of his blood. They work together to discover the source of his powers and how they work. They spend a few hours on it until it is about dinner time.

"It's nice working with you," Jess tells him, "I haven't had much use for my degree yet."

"It's nice working with someone who understands this," Hank says, "you are a great partner."

"Thank you," Jess smiles as they head up for dinner, "you're a great scientist."

"So are you."

"Well, if you ever need any help with science stuff, I'm more than happy to help."

"Would you like to be my partner? It would give you more of a chance to use your skills and gain some more knowledge on how mutations work."  
"I'd love to be your partner," she smiles, "plus, I think it might be useful to learn more about our kind." They talk more about science as they enter the kitchen, that night Raven cooked which means oven baked food or microwaved food. It is still pretty good, though. They all talked through dinner and Jess and Hank talk science the whole time. Desiree and Gabi talk about different things, mostly their dream guy. The team is starting to bond and friendships are forming.

"Brother?" Gabi knocks on his office door after dinner.

"Come in," Charles calls.

"Hi," she says softly, seeing that he's working.

"What's up?" Charles asks, setting his pencil down and looking at her.

"Do you think we actually have a chance against Shaw?" she asks, sitting on the couch.

"Of course I do," Charles says, "I believe in the team."

"But...you saw everything right? Everything he can do?"

"I did," Charles says, "it's not going to be easy, but I know we will win this. The team has it in them. They just need to learn to use their powers to their full potential."

"I hope so. I just have a bad feeling is all."

"That's perfectly normal," Charles says.

"I just hope I can help. I've been pretty useless."

"You're not useless. You're recovering. You'll be training just like the others once your arm is healed."

"I was useless against Shaw. I couldn't stop him that day."

"Because you're not at your full potential," Charles says, "you will be able to fight him and his followers."

"Are you sure?" She asks, her eyes reflecting her insecurities.

"Yes, I'm sure," Charles says, "do you have any ideas to make Jess more comfortable? I'd like to get her on the team."

"She's not going to, not yet. She needs to get comfortable with her powers."

"She won't use them. That's the problem. I want to see if I can change that, but I need to get her to trust me, but I don't know how."

"Just be nice, try talking about things other than her past or her powers."

"Like what? I'm not exactly a science person. She and Hank have bonded over that. I'm glad she's opened up to someone other than you and Erik."

"You like books, make ask about her writing," Gabi suggest, standing.

"Noted," Charles says.

"I am going to my room, if you need me."

"Alright. I'll see you later." She leaves his office and heads to her room, once inside she goes to change when she realizes someone is in her room. Using her telekinesis she hits the person with books.

"Ow," the voice says, with a thick accent, "was that really necessary?"

"Erik!" Gabi yells, covering her bare chest, "what are you doing in my room!?"

"I was waiting for you," he says, "I didn't realize that you'd start undressing. Not that I mind." Gabi's face turns bright red from his comment.

"C-cover your face or look away while I finish!" She stammers.

"Alright, fine," he closes his eyes. She sighs and finishes changing into her shorts and tank.

"So, how are you?"

"I'm ok, I guess," Gabi answers laying on her bed and faces him.

"That's good. How was your night?"

"It was nice, how was yours?"

"Pretty good," he says, "the game in the forest wasn't very fun."

"Didn't like being watched and not using your powers?"

"I don't like wandering through forests and getting poison ivy and scratched by plants."

"Do you want me to look at it? I may not know much about medicine, but I know how to handle poison ivy and such."

"Thanks. That'll be nice," Erik says, "I don't have experience with it." She smiles and looks at his scratches and poison ivy. She softly touches the bumps that he has.

"Well, what can you do about it?" Erik asks.

"I'll be right back," she says, leaving the room. Not too long later she is back with a cup of ice, cream and some bandages. Carefully she places an ice cube on his rash from the poison ivy.

"Thank you," Erik smiles at her, "how about dinner tomorrow night?"

"What?" she asks, putting the cream on and then the bandages.

"Do you want to go out for dinner tomorrow night?" Erik asks her.

"I would love to," she smiles at him.

"Great," he says, "I'm looking forward to it."

"Me too," she says, kissing his cheek.

"Well, I'll see you later," Erik says, "I'll be in my room."

"Good night, Erik," Gabi says, getting settled in her bed. Erik heads to his room and goes to bed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi guys. I've been busy and now I'm sick. I suck at posting, I know. I wrote myself a reminder and I still forget. Anyways, I know not a lot oof people are reading this, but I don't care. Anyways, enjoy.**

* * *

The next morning everyone is in the dining room eating breakfast as everyone feels the odd tension in the room. No one can pinpoint exactly what it is. Alex and Sean look around trying to figure it out.

"I think it's coming from Erik," Alex whispers to Sean.

"But why?" Sean whispers, "what happened?"

"I am not sure. But he keeps on looking at Gabi."

"Do you think they… you know?" Sean asks him.

"I don't think so," Alex answers.

"Then what?" Sean asks, now determined to figure it out.

"Not sure."

"Gabrielle, you will be cooking tonight right?" Raven asks.

"Actually...can someone take over for me?" Gabi asks.

"I guess I can do it," Jess say.

"Thank you, Jess," Gabi smiles.

"Big evening plans?" Sean asks Gabi.

"Yes," she answers, a slight blush on her face.

"Care to spill?" Jess asks her.

"Uh..." she stammers, feeling her face heat up even more. She looks down, trying to disappear.

"Gabi does not need to share her plans if she doesn't want to," Charles says, "we are all still entitled to our own personal lives as long as it doesn't interfere with what we're doing here."

"We have no plans for training tonight, do we?" Gabi asks him.

"No, but I want everyone here with at least one other person tonight," Charles says, "get to know each other." Gabi looks over at Erik with a small smile on her face.

"I hope no one has any problems getting wet and dirty," Charles says, "because that's exactly what's going to happen today."

"Seriously?" Sean whines, "do you like tormenting us?"

"It's not tormenting, it's training. And you can use your powers today. The goal is to not get wet and dirty." After they all finish they head outside while Gabi and Jess clean.

"You've got a date with my brother, don't you?" Jess asks.

"Eh!?" Gabi squeaks, "W-why do you say that?"

"It's obvious," she says, "I spend a lot of time watching people."

"Is it really that obvious?" she asks, her face even redder than before.

"It is to me. I don't think the others picked up on it, though," Jess says, "so don't worry too much. They won't figure it out until tonight."

"I don't think this really means we're going to be together," Gabi says, drying the dishes, "he's just being nice."

"I never said you were going to be together. And trust me, Erik isn't the type to do things just to be nice. With him, everything has a purpose."

"I guess."

"I mean it," she says, "well, you better go keep an eye on your brother and make sure he doesn't torture the team too much."

"Alright, I'm glad you are opening up. Maybe you can talk to Charles next, he needs to talk to more people and give his brain a break," Gabi smiles and goes out to the backyard. Most of the team members are wet and muddy at this point. Desiree is the only one who isn't, thanks to her powers being over water. Charles continues to spray the team with a hose as they go through some sort of obstacle course.

"You're having fun, aren't you brother," Gabi says, walking up to his side.

"Yes, I am," Charles smirks, "but there is a purpose to all this."

"And that is?"

"We don't know where Shaw is going to attack. They need experience with different types of terrain."

"I know where he's going to be," Gabi says, simply.

"Really? Where?" Charles asks her, increasing the pressure on the hose and 'accidentally' blasting Erik.

"Cuba," Gabi answers before looking at Erik, "brother! You did that on purpose!"

"I did not," Charles says, "and how do you know he'll be in Cuba?"

"Because I was in his twisted mind."

"I was in Emma's head. I saw his plan. She must not know where the battle is," Charles says, "I suppose the fewer people that know, the better."

"Exactly," Gabi says, "Can I see the hose?"

"No," Charles says, "I'm not stupid." She frowns and takes it, blasting Raven and Hank, who have been hiding.

"I thought you were going to spray me, which would be a very bad idea," Charles says, "because I worked hard on my hair this morning."

"Oh, now that you've said that," she smirks, blasting him with the hose on the highest setting.

"Hey!" He snatches it away from her and sprays her. She squeaks and runs away, she hides behind Erik so she can't be sprayed again.

"What am I, some sort of shield?" Erik asks her, "you're going to get me sprayed even more."

"Better you than me, liebling," she says.

"I do enjoy it when girls speak German to me," Erik turns to face her. Gabi smiles at him, a pink tint on her cheeks. He smirks at her. Charles glares at Erik and blasts him with the hose.

"Hey!" Erik exclaims.

"Get moving!" Charles yells.

"I was talking! This is ridiculous! What's even the point of this?"

"You need to get used to different terrain," Charles says, "now move!"

"Fine!" Erik growls and runs off and does the obstacle course. Gabi glares at her brother and walks off back into the house. Charles frowns as she disappears back inside the house. She needs time to get ready for her first date, ever.

"Alright, that's enough for today," Charles calls, "go get cleaned up. And if you get the house muddy, clean it up." The team walks inside and goes to clean up from being covered in mud. They all go off to find things to do. Raven and Jess walk past Gabi's room as she's panicking.

"What am I going to wear?" Gabi says, running around.

"Calm down," Jess tells her, "it's gonna be okay."

"I have no idea what to wear! I've never been on a date before!"

"Just put on something pretty, but comfortable," Jess tells her.

"How about this?" she holds up a light purple dress that is casual yet beautiful.

"Perfect," they both say.

"Okay, oh I am so nervous!" Gabi says, going to change.

"Really? Raven asks sarcastically, "Hadn't noticed." Gabrielle's books and journals are floating which only happens when she is nervous or worried.

"Just calm down," Jess says, "it's no big deal."

"It's my first date ever!" Gabi says, walking out in her dress.

"I've never actually been on a date, but come on, it's my brother and he's totally into you. What could go wrong?"

"I'm just worried I'll mess it all up."

"You won't mess it up," Jess says, "be yourself."

"Okay," Gabi sighs, "I better go meet Erik down stairs." Gabi leaves her room and heads for the main area of the house.

"You look good," he tells her.

"Thank you," She smiles.

"Ready to go?" Erik asks her.

"Ready," Gabi answers.

"Alright, let's go," Erik says. They leave the house and drive to the restaurant. Gabi is very shy while they are out. The dinner is very nice. Gabi soon warms up to him and opens up more. Erik tells her about his family and his adventures, minus all the killing. They have a great time together.

"I really enjoyed tonight," he says when they arrive back at the mansion.

"I had an amazing time," Gabi smiles, "thank you for taking me out, Erik."

"It was my pleasure," he smiles at her. Gabi blushes and looks away from him, becoming shy again.

"Well, goodnight," he tells her, "I'll see you tomorrow during whatever torture your brother has concocted."

"Goodnight, Erik," she says before quickly pecking his lips and running off. Erik smirks and then heads off to bed. Charles notices his sister running, her face red.

"Are you alright?" He calls after her.

"Ah!" She faces him, "y-yea, I'm fine."

"Your face is red," Charles points out.

"Is it? I hadn't noticed," She blushes more, thinking about her kissing Erik.

"Jess and Raven are in their rooms," Charles tells her, "if you need a friend to talk to."

"Okay, thanks. Goodnight big bro," Gabi heads to Jess's room. Jess is writing in her journal when Gabi walks into the room.

"I kissed your brother," Gabi blurts out.

"What? Ew," Jess says.

"Jess! This is serious!"

"I am serious!" She says, "why did you kiss him?"

"I don't know! I just did," Gabi says, "oh, Erik must hate me now...what am I going to do?"

"I highly doubt that he hates you," Jess says, "I'm not really the guy expert."

"I should have just walked away, I shouldn't have gone out with him."

"That's not true. Didn't you have a good time?" Jess asks her.

"I did, but I just ruined everything!"

"I highly doubt that," Jess says, "I'm sure it'll be okay. I know it." Gabi sighs and goes to her room to change into her goes to sleep.

In the morning, Jess wakes up early from a nightmare. She wander the mansion for a while, trying to clear her head. She knows she should feel safe here, but she keeps getting this bad feeling that something is going to happen. Suddenly she gets the feeling that she's being followed, and before she knows it, she's in the process of turning around and shooting fire at the person that she thought was following her.

"Whoa!" Charles says, dodging the fire.

"Why are you following me?" She snaps at him, "I almost roasted you!"

"I was coming from my office, my room is this way."

"It's 4 in the morning!" She exclaims, "why aren't you in bed already?"

"I was going over plans and such," Charles explains, "I had no idea how late it had gotten."

"Whatever," she says, starting to walk away from him, "goodbye."

"Good night, Jessica," Charles says, going to his room. Jess listens to his footsteps disappear as she walks down to the ground floor and then finds her way outside for some fresh air. Outside is the only place she can really think. She hates being confined. She settles down by a tree and somehow falls asleep in the backyard.

Around 8 in the morning Charles finds Jessica outside under the tree. He picks her up and carries her up to her room. She wakes up as he opens the door.

"Where are you taking me?" She asks, fear in her eyes, "please don't hurt me."

"Shh, it's alright," Charles says, in a calming voice, "I'm just taking you back to your room. You'll be more comfortable in your own bed."

"I don't like it there," she says, "I like it better outside. I hate being confined."

"Would you like to be in the porch? There are comfortable there and you can see outside. It's raining out and I rather not have you get sick."

"I'd like to be set down," she tells him, "I also hate being touched. But I'd sure you've looked into my head and know all about that."

"I know, but you looked so peaceful, I didn't want to disturb you," Charles says, "we are close to the porch, I will set you down there."

"I'd like to be put down now, please," she says, "I have two working legs and I don't want to be carried by a stranger anywhere."

"Alright," he sets her down.

"Thank you," she says, "just leave me next time. I don't get sick. Okay?"

"Alright. If you need anything, just ask," Charles says.

"Sure," she says, then head off to the porch to go take a nap. She finds a comfy couch and lays down on it, falling asleep to the sound of the rain.

"You look like someone just told you that your puppy died," Raven says, walking up to her brother, "what's wrong?"

"Jessica still doesn't trust me," Charles says, "I don't think she ever will."

"What happened?" Raven asks him, walking towards the kitchen.

"I was carrying her inside as it started to rain, I didn't want her to get sick. But as I brought her to her room she started to freak out. I try comforting her and everything but she doesn't trust me."

"How would you feel if someone you hardly knew tried carrying you into a room when you've been tortured in more ways than you could possibly imagine?" Raven asks. They arrive into the kitchen to find Hank is already there and he's made coffee. Raven pours herself a cup of coffee and sits down at the table. Charles takes some as well and gets some cereal, he sits across from Raven and takes the paper.

"It wasn't a rhetorical question," Raven says, "we still need to talk about this. You need to figure this out. I don't even know what she can do."

"She has fire powers," Charles answers.

"Fire? Really? We have fire, water, and metal. Now we need someone who can control the air and we can't lose," Raven tells him, "we need her. Maybe Erik knows something that can help."

"I will talk to him during training today. We will be doing one on one training."

"One on one? What, so no more random torture sessions?" Raven asks him, "darn. Those were _so_ fun."

"It's raining out, so nothing outside," Charles says, "but I need someone to take Gabrielle to the hospital to get her arm looked at again."

"I can do it," Raven says, "if you want me to. Unless you need me here for something."

"No, I have nothing really planned for you. You already have perfect control of your abilities."

"Alright," Raven says, "I'll take her while you're busy with the one on one sessions. I'm gonna go take a shower before all the bathrooms are taken."

"Good luck."

"Thanks," Raven says. She sets her coffee mug into the sink before heading upstairs to her room. She picks out clothes for the day and heads into one of the bathrooms to take a shower. Meanwhile, Gabrielle was walking the halls, just wandering around.

"Going somewhere?" A familiar voices asks behind her.

"Huh?" she turns, "not really, just walking around."

"You kinda disappeared last night after our date. Did I do something wrong?" Erik asks, looking concerned, "it's been a while since I went on an actual date."

"No!" She says, "No,you did nothing wrong. I had an amazing time last night, it's just...I am the one who messed up."

"You did?" Erik asks her, frowning, "how? I think I would have remembered you messing up."

"I shouldn't have kissed you so soon, I am so sorry for making things weird."

"It didn't make things weird," Erik tells her, "it wasn't too soon. I've done much more with women I knew much less."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he shrugs, "I had to do something in my free time, right? I didn't spend all my time killing Nazis."

"Oh."

"What, haven't you ever...?" Erik asks her as he heads to the kitchen.

"I have never been on a date before," she answers.

"Really? That's surprising. You seemed like you knew what you were doing," Erik says. He walks into the kitchen and gets some orange juice and makes some toast.

"I was just being myself," Gabrielle says, grabbing an apple.

"Well, then, being yourself works really well for you," he says, "we should go out again."

"I would love that," she smiles.

"Great," he smiles at her and eats his toast.

"What are you two talking about?" Charles asks, getting angry.

"Relax. We're just talking about our date. Nothing happened," Erik tells Charles, "not that it's any of your business."

"A date?" Charles glares at Erik.

"Yes. It's when two people who like each other go out and eat food together and talk," Erik tells him, "I'm surprised the man who knows everything doesn't know that."

"I swear Erik, if you play around with her feelings I will hurt you," Charles growls, "Gabrielle, go and get to your appointment."

"Y-yes, brother," Gabi says, quickly leaving the room.

"I'm pretty sure your sister is more than capable of hurting me if I hurt her," Erik says, then leaves the soon begins just as Raven and Gabrielle leave the house for Gabrielle's appontment with her doctor. Today is certainly not going to be a good day.


	8. Chapter 8

**I hope you guys are all having a better day than my sick self. Anyways, enjoy**

* * *

"Charles?" Raven and Gabi call, returning to mansion hours after both training and the appointment are over.

"What?" He calls back. It's clear by his voice that he's still angry.

"We got great news," Raven says, walking towards him, Gabrielle behind her.

"What is it?" Charles asks, "are you going out with someone now?"

"No, Gabrielle's wrist is almost completely healed. She can start using it a bit, but she needs to wear a brace. She can start training now."

"Well, that's fantastic," Charles says, "Raven, can you give us some privacy?"

"Sure," Raven says, leaving the room.

"Why didn't you tell me about your date?" Charles asks her.

"I didn't want to say anything at first because I didn't know how it would go," Gabrielle answers, "but after...last night, I had to talk to Jess first. After I talked to her, I went to bed, I was going to tell you, I swear."

"I want you to tell me before you go anywhere with him again," Charles tells her, "I don't trust that man. He's got a lot of darkness."

"I can handle myself, brother," she says, "I know what he is like, I saw into his mind. But I also know the real him, the loving, caring, nice side of him that is buried within him. I want to help him and by being there for him and showing him that there is good around can help."

"How did you get Jess to trust you?" Charles asks her.

"I told you, you need to connect with her," Gabi answers, "maybe you should connect with Erik first seeing as you hate him even though you did say he's your friend."

"I found her in the rain outside and tried to bring her to her room and she woke up and looked at me like I was about to torture her or something," Charles sighs.

"Wrong move, she hates people touching her."

"Yeah, I got that now," Charles sighs, "I can't imagine what they did to her. She would rather lay outside in the rain than let me help her. She says she hates being confined. I'm thinking maybe I'll turn the porch or at least part of it into a room for her."

"That's a great idea, now can I go and see Erik or am I not allowed to?" Gabi asks, placing her hands on her hips.

"No closed doors," Charles says, "but you may go."

"I know." She leaves the room and heads to find Erik. Erik is in his room, drawing in a sketchbook.

"Hi," Gabi smiles, slowly opening his door.

"Hi," he smiles, looking up at her and closes his sketchbook and sets it on the his nightstand.

"How was training?" She asks, walking over leaving the door open.

"I think your brother wanted to kill me," Erik says, "but other than that, it was great."

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault," Gabi says, sitting next to him, "he's just trying to protect me. I'm his innocent little sister, so he feels he needs to really protect me."

"You're not a little girl," Erik says, "you can make your own choices and he needs to learn to respect that. You're an adult."

"I know, but after almost being killed scared him."

"It's not like I'm going to hurt you," he says, "unless you were secretly a Nazi when you were a little kid."

"And that is not a problem since you saw my entire past."

"Yeah, I know," he says, "I'm glad it's all out in the open. That way we don't have to worry about secrets or anything."

"Yea," she smiles, sitting next to him.

"So, what's up?" Erik asks her, "I'm sure you're in my room for a reason."

"I can finally use my wrist again," Gabi smiles, "I can join training now."

"That's great," he smiles at her, "I'm sure you're happy about that. Now your brother can torture you as well."

"Thank for the encouragement," she says, lightly pushing him.

"You're very welcome," Erik says, "I'm always supportive of my friends. It's what makes me such a nice guy."

"You are a nice guy."

"I don't think everyone would agree with that statement," Erik tells her.

"I know, but I have seen the good in you. I know you are an amazing person, Erik."

"I'm glad you think so," Erik tells her, then kisses her. She is shocked at first but soon kisses him back.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Erik asks her, pulling away.

"No," she smiles.

"I'm glad," he says, "because I liked it too."

"So...what does this mean?"

"What do you want it to mean?" Erik asks her.

"That...we...uh..." she blushes.

"I'll let you think about it," he says, "have you seen my sister? I think that something's bothering her."

"She's in the room on the porch," Gabi answers.

"I'll go talk to her," Erik stands up, "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Alright, come by my room after dinner," she smiles, heading to her room.

"Sounds good," Erik smiles at her before heading down the stairs to the main level and then through the house to the porch to find his sister. She's sitting on the sofa on the porch, writing in her journal.

"Hi," Erik says, walking onto the porch.

"Hi," she says, not looking up yet. She finishes the sentence she's writing and then closes her journal and sets it on the white wicker table in front of her, "what's up?"

"Something seems to be bothering you," Erik says, "I was coming to see what is wrong."

"I'm fine," she tells him, "everything's fine."

"You don't seem it."

"Well, I am," she says, "so, if you'll leave me alone, I was in the middle of writing and I don't like the distraction."

"Yes, something is wrong if you are acting like this."

"I just don't like it when strangers decide they have the right to pick me up and carry places," Jess says, "I hate being touched."

"Well, where were you when you were picked up?"

"Outside taking a nap," she says.

"In this weather? Maybe it was the best you were moved."

"A little rain never hurt anyone," she says, "and if someone is asleep outside, you wake them up, not pick them up and carry them inside."

"It's down pouring, maybe he didn't want to disturb you. You need to talk to people a bit better."

"Why?" She asks, "I liked it better when this place was empty."

"You need to have people in your life. You are best friends with Gabrielle."

"I do have people. I have you and Gabi. And I've been doing science with Hank," Jess says, "I don't need to be friends with everyone here."

"Charles is just trying to help you."

"I don't need help," she stands up, "and I don't need a lecture from you, Erik. I'm going inside."

"Fine." Jess heads inside and goes up to her room, closing the door. She lays on her bed, just wanting to be alone. Her journal, however, is still sitting on the table in the porch. She ends up falling asleep, even though it's the middle of the day. Sean is the one who finds her journal and opens it. Even though he shouldn't, he starts reading through it. In it is everything that's happened to her. All the nightmares and what happened to her in Germany. Also, everything that's been going on since she got here and her feelings about everyone. He continues to read to see if there is anyway to help her.

"What are you reading?" Alex asks, finding him on the porch.

"Jessica's journal," Sean answers, "I am close to figuring out how to help her open up more."

"Give me that," Alex takes it from him, "you can't just read people's private journals! The stuff in here is stuff she doesn't want to tell people!"

"I am so close though!"

"She doesn't have to be social if she doesn't want to be," Alex says, "you can't force her to open up. I can't imagine what's she's been through."

"Whatever."

"Did you read the whole things?" Alex asks him.

"Yes."

"Well, then, I'm bringing it back to her," Alex says, "and next time you find someone's journal, just bring it back to them."

"Fine."

"Good," Alex tells him. He heads up to Jess's room and hears snoring coming from inside, so he sets her journal down right outside her door and then heads off to find Desiree. Desiree is outside underneath an umbrella, watching the rain come down. Alex opens the door and steps outside, closing it behind him and then running over to her and ducking underneath her umbrella.

"Hey," he smiles at her, "what are you doing out here in the rain?"

"I like the rain," she smiles at him, "it's calming."

"I'm surprised that you need an umbrella," Alex comments, "can't you just control the rain and stay dry?"

"It's a habit from home. I couldn't let the kids know about my powers."

"Well, at least your powers aren't really that dangerous," Alex says, "controlling water seems like a pretty cool power. And it really fits you. I guess it makes sense that you're good at surfing."

"Water may be nice and calming, but it also can destroy," Desiree says, "Tsunamis, dangerous waves, rip tides and such."

"Well, that's true, but water brings life," Alex says, "collapse the umbrella, but keep us dry. It's good practice." Desiree smiles and does just that, she holds her hand up to keep the rain from hitting them.

"See? You're practicing and neither of us is getting wet," Alex smiles at her, "plus, it's pretty cool to watch the rain outside, falling around us."

"It is," she smiles, "what brings you out here anyway?"

"I wanted to see you," he admits, "I wanted to talk to someone who isn't an idiot."

"I'm guessing Sean did something stupid," she says, her voice soft.

"He found Jess's journal on the porch and read it. The whole thing," Alex tells her, "she's going to kill him if she ever finds out."

"She will find out. He's going to be useless for a while when she's done with him."

"He'll be charred to a crisp," Alex says, "he says he wanted to find a way to bring her out of her shell, but speaking from experience, the only person who has a right to bring your walls down is you."

"I understand that, but sometimes someone needs a little help."

"His way was not the way to do it," Alex says, "she'll never trust him now. I took her journal from him and left it by her door."

"That was nice of you to do," Desiree smiles, "you are an amazing person, Alex."

"I just was doing the right thing," Alex shrugs, "no big deal."

"Even so, you are amazing."

"I think something's up with Sean," Alex says, changing the subject, "something he's not telling us, you know?"

"He's jealous," Desiree says, walking out into the rain, getting wet but keep Alex dry, "everyone seems to have someone other than him and he's angry about it."

"What do you mean everyone's got someone?" Alex asks her, following her, "seems like Gabi and Erik are the only ones who are actually together."

"Raven and Hank are always together and Jess will never like him now."

"Raven and Hank? Really?" Alex asks, "I didn't see that coming. I mean, I know he's got a thing for her, but…"

"Guess you know nothing about that," Desiree says, moving away from him again.

"True," Alex says, "I'm not the most observant person in the world. You've probably noticed that."

"I have."

"Well, I'm working on it," he promises, "why don't we go inside and have some cocoa or something."

"No thanks," Desiree says, "I rather stay here and stand in the rain."

"Alright. I'll stay with you," he says.

"Why?"

"Because I want to," Alex tells her. She smirks and drops her hand, letting Alex get soaked.

"You're going to pay for that," Alex says, pushing her lightly into a puddle.

"Very mature," Desiree says, causing mud to hit him with a flick of her wrist.

"Rude!" He picks up a fistfull of mud and throws it at her. She stops it in the air and stands tackles her back down and they both end up in a puddle of mud. Desiree laughs, she hasn't had this kind of fun since she left North Carolina. Once she looks at Alex, she starts to blush. Alex is right on top of her right now.

"A-alex?" She stammers. Before he realizes what he's doing, he kisses her. Desiree is in shock before she kisses him back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Get a room," Erik says, walking past them back into the mansion under an umbrella. Alex moves back, Desiree looks at him, her arms still around his neck.

"Sorry," Alex says, but he doesn't know why he's apologizing.

"There's nothing to apologize for," Desiree smiles, "if you weren't going to make a move, I was going to."

"Well, now we're both covered in mud," Alex says, standing up, "I'm gonna have to take another shower."

"Or not," Desiree stands, with a few movements of her arms she gets the mud and water off of them.

"That's a neat trick," Alex tells her, "remind me to keep you around."

"Is that your way of asking me to be your girl?" Desiree asks, her sass coming through.

"Depends," Alex replies.

"Depends?"

"On what the answer is," Alex tells her.

"If you are asking then the answer is yes," Desiree smiles.

"Then I am asking," Alex tells her. She goes to him and kisses him.

"Looks like I am now taken," she says.

"How about dinner tomorrow night?" he asks her.

"I would love that."

"Great," he smiles at her and kisses her again before heading back into the mansion, a big smile on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm getting better! Yay! And I;m sorry this chapter is shorter than normal.**

* * *

'Dinner is ready' Gabi tells everyone telepathically. They all head downstairs and into the kitchen and settle into the dining room. Gabi brings in the food and sets the plates in front of everyone.

"Someone read my journal," Jess says, sitting down in her seat, "whoever it is, your life will be easier than if I have to figure it out myself."

"I did," Sean admits, just wanting to get the pain over with.

"5," she says in a stern voice, clearly angry. Sean stands and slowly backs out of the room.

"4," she growls, "3...2…" She counts down. He runs out of the room and out of the mansion.

"1," she yells and then gets up and chases after him.

"He's not going to be able to train tomorrow," Raven says.

"Should we help him?" Hank asks.

"He knew the risks of reading someone else's journal," Alex says, "he can handle this alone."

"I'll get the burn kit," Charles stands up, "this is going to be a mess."

"It's his own fault," Gabi says.

"Is there a sprinkler system outside?" Erik asks.

"Yes."

"Wait about 20 minutes then activate it. You might need a gardener after this," Erik says.

"How could you read my journal?" Jess chases Sean around the house, throwing fireballs at him.

"I just wanted to help you!" Sean replies, running as fast as he could without slipping on the mud.

"By reading my private journal! You had no right to know any of that!" Jess keeps throwing fire at him.

"I wanted to find a way to be your friend! You don't really talk to anyone other than Gabi and Erik!"

"So? I've got a right to make my own choices! You don't get to take that away from me!" She catches up to him and knocks him to the ground and pins him down and starts hitting him.

"I just wanted to help you get comfortable with people! I want to be your friend!"

"You have done nothing to earn my friendship! No one has!" Jess says.

"Charles tried to be nice and not leave you out in the rain, Gabrielle gave you a home, Raven helped you adjust to having many people in the house, Alex makes you laugh, Desiree shares your interests and Hank talks to you about science and such. I may have done nothing but everyone else has, they make you feel like family."

"I know what people say about me! What they think of me! They look at me like I'm a victim, like I'm helpless! And I hate it!"

"They don't think that at all! I should know! We talked about it! We just want you to feel comfortable and we leave you be since it's what we think you want. But I think you want people to know the real you. When you lock yourself away all the time, you are making yourself helpless and a victim."

"I'm protecting myself!" She yells.

"From what? People who want to be your friends? Your family? I know you are scared of being hurt again, but we would never, ever, do anything to you. We all are like you, different thanks to our powers."

"How do I know that? And I hate being different!" She stands up and stalk off, leaving him in the mud. Sean huffs and stands, he heads inside and goes to clean up. Everyone watches the two, Alex and Erik are laughing at Sean while the girls are shaking their heads.

"Well, the grass isn't burnt too bad," Erik says, "but Sean's probably burnt a little, though. He deserved it, though."

"He did, but you don't need to make things worse," Gabi says.

"I won't," Erik says, "I better go find my sister, though."

"Okay, I will talk to you later." Erik heads off, hoping to find his sister before she does something stupid.

"Hey, can you help me with something?" Charles asks Gabi, "it might help."

"Sure."

"I want to put one of the beds from one of the empty rooms and put it on the porch," Charles says.

"Okay, I can do that."

"Thanks," Charles says and sighs, "I just want her to be happy. But it's not working. How do I get to her?"

"Sean may have actually helped with that," Gabi says, "I saw a little change in Jess, like one of her walls fell."

"Really? Because she seems even more upset than before," Charles says.

"She may have seemed it, but I know her better than anyone."

"We'll just have to see what happens now," Charles says, "get any other ideas that will help?"

"I have a few ideas, I can handle those after training tomorrow," Gabi says, heading off to get the bed onto the porch as Raven cleans. When Sean gets out of the shower, Charles find him with the burn kit.

"Are you burnt badly?" Charles asks him.

"Not really," Sean answers, "I was able to dodge most of the fireballs."

"Your arm looks a little burnt, though," Charles says, "here, let me help." He puts some clean on it and rubs it in and then covers it with gauze and bandages.

"Thanks," Sean says.

"Next time, don't read a girl's journal," Charles advices.

"Yea, I know that now."

"Good," Charles says, "I'll check on your wounds in a few days. I'll leave the burn cream here in case you have other burns."

"Thanks Charles. Are you ok?" Sean asks, "You tried to kill Erik this morning."

"I'm fine," he says, "I'm just a little protective of my sisters is all. Listen, if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here and I won't judge you."

"Your sisters can make their own decisions, and I have nothing to talk about."

"I know they can, but I always worry about them. They're my only family," Charles says, "and if that changes, come to me."

"Right, and your sisters will never leave you."

"I know," Charles says, standing up, "I'll see you later. And you may want to do some apologizing and do something nice."

"I will." Sean heads to his room to relax. Charles goes to see what the others are up to. Raven and Hank are talking about science stuff and Alex and Desiree are talking about surfing. He decides to go see what Gabi is up to. She's in her room singing and dancing around a bit. He doesn't want to disturb her, so he heads off to his office to make some more training plans.

"Jessica?" Erik asks, knocking on the door.

"Go away," she tells him, "or I'll burn you."

"I just wanted to check up on you," he tells her.

"I said go away," she repeats, "I just want to be alone, Erik."

"Fine, find me or Gabrielle when you want to talk," Erik says, walking to Gabrielle's room. Erik knocks on Gabi's door.

"Come in~" she calls in a sing song voice. Erik opens the door and walks into her room. Gabi is still singing and dancing around, moving books back to their proper place.

"Hey," Erik says, "having fun?"

"I am," she smiles at him, she is wearing one of his old shirts she was able to tailor into a mini dress.

"Is that my shirt?" He asks her, "it looks good on you."

"Thank you. I thought I should have one of my boyfriend's shirts," She smiles more, sitting on her bed.

"I can see your fashion degree did you good," Erik says, then settles down beside her on the bed.

"I always loved making clothes. I help the shelters send clothes overseas after the war."

"Really? That's very nice of you," Erik says.

"I wanted to help in anyway I could," Gabi says.

"Well, you did I better job at helping than I did," Erik says.

"You were doing what you thought was right."

"No, I was getting revenge. There's a difference," Erik says, "you know what they did to my sister and there was nothing I could do. So when we go out, I did something."

"I understand that Erik," she takes his hand.

"You do?" Erik asks her.

"I do, I saw everything remember? I felt what you felt, I felt the anger for them."

"There are some things that you just can't forgive," Erik says, "Sean got what he deserved. I mean, who reads other people's journals?"

"He's an idiot, we all know that," Gabi says, "it's done now, no need to get worked up anymore."

"I tried to check on her and she threatened to burn me," Erik tells her, "but at least she's using her powers, even if it is only when she's angry or scared. But, on a brighter note, do you want to go swimming?"

"Right now?"

"Yeah, why not?" Erik asks her, "unless you're chicken."

"Excuse me?" Gabi asks, "Did you just call me chicken?"

"Yes, I did," he says.

"You are going to pay for that."

"Only if you can catch me!" He exclaims. He runs out of her room and through the mansion, then out to the back yard. He pulls off his shirt and jumps into the pool. Gabrielle walks out, in a swimsuit she had made herself. Her arms are crossed over her chest as she glares at Erik.

"Come on in. The water is nice," he looks up at her from the pool, almost fully submerged, "and so is the view."

"How about this view," she uses her powers to make him think he's hanging off a cliff with her standing near him.

"I'm not afraid of dying," he tells her, "but a hand would be nice."

"Not going to happen," she says, "but I'm sure this will scare you." She walks towards the edge.

"Stay away from the edge!" He exclaims, "you're going to fall."

"I know that, Liebling," she says, getting closer to the edge.

"I'll teach you German if you get away from there," he says.

"Hmmm...nope."

"Move away from the edge or I'll let go," Erik tells her. She just smirks and falls. He lets go off his ledge and falls down after her. That's when he falls back into the pool, Gabrielle laughing as she sits at the edge.

"You'll pay for that," he stands up, so his feet touch the bottom of the pool. The water goes up to waist, revealing his muscular, but heavily scarred torso. He walks towards her.

"That was payback for before," Gabi says, not moving. He goes over to her and grabs her leg and pulls her into the pool. She squeals as she falls in, she breaks to the surface again, coughing.

"Now we're even," he tells her in a serious voice.

"Fine," she stands, coming up to his shoulders.

"No mind games," he tells her.

"Okay."

"Promise me," he says, "that you won't do that again. I don't like people messing with my head."

"I promise," Gabi says, her voice soft and serious.

"Good," he says, "did you make your bathing suit?"

"I did," She smirks, "do you like?"

"Very much so," he says, "I am, however biased."

"I can make anything that you will like, if you want me to."

"I like the person wearing the clothes," Erik smirks at her.

"Good to know," she says, placing her hands on his chest.

"Why do you say that?" He asks. He shivers a little when her hands touch his skin.

"I have a few things I want to try out and I would love for you to look at them."

"Like what?" He raises an eyebrow at her. She whispers everything in his ear, just in case someone is listening.

"Well, I'm game for that," Erik smirks, "now?"

"Sure." They both head back to her room.


	10. Chapter 10

**So my laptop wasn't charging, so I couldn't use it and was using my Nook instead for my source of internet. But I got a new laptop charger and that seems to have fixed the problem, at least for now.**

* * *

The months pass, the entire team gets closer and closer. Jess opens up a bit more, ultimately joining the team. It is two months before their battle with Shaw, the team has just finished training and now everyone is relaxing.

"We should do something," Sean says, sitting down on a sofa in the living room, "what's the point in sitting around?"

"I think they just opened a new drive in close by," Raven says, "we could go and see a movie."

"So I can watch everyone in the team make out?" Sean asks, "no thank you."

"There's a bar downtown," Alex says, "how about a guy's' night?"

"Sounds good," Erik says, "I'm in."

"Sure, why not?" Charles agrees as Hank nods. The five guys head out of the mansion and to the bar to go drinking, minus Hank, who agrees to be the designated driver. Still no one knows the truth about Sean, minus Jess who he ended up telling, so they are a bit shocked when he's checking out guys.

"Have I had one too many or is Sean checking out that guy over there?" Charles quietly asks the others.

"I think he is," Erik answers quietly.

"Statistically speaking, about 10% of the population is homosexual," Hank says, "it makes sense that someone in our group of 9 people that someone is."

"I wonder why he didn't tell us," Alex says.

"Well, would you want someone to know?" Erik asks, "I'm not even sure he knows about it when he's sober."

"Anyway," Hank changes the subject, "how's your relationship with Jessica, Charles."

"I still don't think she trusts me," he says, "I don't know what else to do. Girls can be confusing."

"She has gotten closer to you lately," Alex adds.

"It doesn't seem like it," Charles says, then tries to change the subject, "how about some shots?"

"It is, she sits directly next to you," Erik says.

"Are you implying something?" Charles asks him, "because I'd rather you just say it."

"She likes you," Erik says, "I know your sister knows since she has been giving you small hints."

"Well, unlike you, I do not defile my friends' little sisters," Charles tells him.

"We love each other, so what's the problem?"

"She's my baby sister and you aren't married!" Charles exclaims, "plus, it's not like you waited very long!"

"Again, we love each other."

"So? That's not a good reason!" Charles exclaims.

"We've talked about it and it has to do with love."

"Since I'm actually a good friend, I'll stay away from your sister!" Charles says, getting another drink.

"I am actually giving you permission," Erik says, getting a beer, "I want her to be happy and if she's happy with you, I'm not going to intervene."

"Can we please stop talking about sleeping with each other's sister?" Hank asks, drinking something non alcoholic.

"They never said sleeping with anyone," Alex says, "Erik says that Charles can date his sister."

"Yeah, but Charles was ranting at Erik because he and Gabi are," Hank says, "and I don't want them to get into a fight."

"Too late for that, should I call Gabi?"

"No, just get them apart," Hank says, then looks around, "where'd Sean go?"

"I think he went to flirt with some guy."

"That's not going to end well," Hank sighs, "next time, we're going to the drive in."

"Yep."

Meanwhile, the girls were gossiping and giving each other makeovers.

"So, how are things with Hank?" Desiree asks Raven, "don't you get bored of all the sciencey stuff?"

"It is a bit annoying," Raven replies, "but I love him anyway. How's things with Alex?"

"Pretty good," Desiree says, "sometimes we run out of things to talk about, though."

"Maybe you should find something to do together," Gabi says.

"Like what? It's not like we have the right weather or water for surfing," Desiree says.

"Maybe that's the problem. You are too focused on surfing, maybe find something that isn't surfing based."

"Yea...maybe you are right," Desiree says, "I just didn't know much else than surfing."

"Just find something he likes," Jess suggests, eating from a bag of Cheetos.

"Okay, I can do that," Desiree smiles, "so, how's your situation with Charles? Have you told him about your feelings yet?"

"Feelings? What feelings?" Jess asks nonchalantly as she eats another Cheeto, "man, these things are awesome."

"There's no need to hide it," Raven says, "we can see the signs of it, plus Desiree and I may have been eavesdropping when you and Gabi were talking."

"All I said was that he's not a bad looking guy," Jess says, "or am I not allowed to think guys are cute now?"

"You did say that you like my brother," Gabi says, "you told me telepathically."

"I like him as a friend," she explains, "I'm not looking into dating. I'd sooner date Sean and he's….. annoying."

"I thought that he was gay?" Desiree asks.

"What?" Raven asks, completely shocked.

"I just get that vibe from him."

"But he used to hit on us all the time," Raven says, "there is no way that he's gay."

"He's in denial," Desiree says.

"It's not right to talk about people behind their backs," Jess tells them, "people have a right to their own personal lives."

"Yea you're right," Gabi says, "so to change the subject, how bout we watch a movie?" They all agree, so they find a movie to watch and turn it on. The boys don't return to the mansion until very late at night, by then the girls have gone to bed.

In the morning, everyone ends up in the kitchen, one at a time. They all fend for themselves with breakfast, the guys are mostly nursing their hangovers. Most of them have had too much to drink the night before.

"Where's Sean?" Raven asks when everyone else is already awake and downstairs.

"He went home with someone last night, I believe," Hank says, "I couldn't find him after last call when I was rounding up the others."

"Really? Wow," Raven says, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well, he is single," Charles says, "he's welcome to do whatever he like as long as it's not stupid."

"True."

"I'm sure he'll be home soon," Hank says, "no need to worry. So, what's the plan for today?"

"Will you be able to train anyone with a hangover Charles?" Raven asks.

"No training today," Charles announces, "but get some exercise, okay? Go outside. Physical activity is good."

"Okay," everyone agrees. They all separate after a while and go off to do their own things. Jess and Gabi decide to train in the training room since the guys won't bother them. They both need the practice because they didn't start training at the same time as the others. They use their powers to hit the targets or in Gabi's case to hit it blindfolded.

"In what situation would you blindfolded in a battle?" Jess asks her.

"What if sand gets in my eyes or that one guy causes the wind to get bad enough that I can't see?" Gabi asks, "it's better to be prepared just in case."

"Whatever floats your boat," Jess says, hitting one of the now fireproof targets with a fireball. They continue when Gabrielle hears voices in her head, the same ones that tell her the usual. That she's useless, weak, pathetic and such, she gets so mad that her telekinetic powers get stronger than before and all of the targets are thrown across the room.

"Did those targets offend you or something?" Jess asks her, ducking to avoid being hit.

"Sorry," Gabi removes her blindfold, "it was...nothing."

"Clearly it wasn't," Jess says, "wanna fill me in?"

"Remember the voices I told you about?"

"Yeah," Jess says, "I remember."

"They have gotten worse since...since I read Shaw's mind."

"You can't listen to them," Jess says, "I've been there. And I almost died several times from listening to those voices."

"I've tried to stop them, but they just get stronger and stronger."

"You're a telepath. Just lock the voices away," Jess says.

"I did for a while but they just break out."

"Then have your brother do it. He's more powerful than you are. No offense," Jess says, "either that of talk to someone."

"Yea," Gabi says in a small voice.

"You know, I can't burn myself," Jess says.

"I know."

"I didn't find that out on accident," Jess tells her.

"You tried to burn yourself," Gabi says.

"That's what the voices said right after I got free," Jess says, "I thought my powers would be able to put me out of my suffering, but nope. That's why I hate them."

"I wish I had your powers," Gabi says, "my powers are hard to control, I can hear things I don't want to hear, it makes my voices stronger and it hurts."

"All I can do is destroy," she says, "fire just destroys."

"But it also brings new life."

"New life?" Jess asks.

"Yes. Fire can start new life by getting rid of all of the bad things. It cleans all of the horrible things in life."

"Like I said,fire doesn't work on me," she says, "at best I can help everyone else."

"You have already have helped yourself. You have a home, friends and your brother back."

"I had those before everything that happened happened. Back when I still had all of my family."

"I guess, but you have ones who understand you and your powers," Gabi says before cringing, trying to stop the voices.

"I wish I could get rid of them," Jess says, "come on, let's get out of here." Gabi nods and they leave the room. They head off to find something else to do. The two decide to sit on the porch to listen to music and write. They talk for a while before Gabi takes a small nap, her voices cause her to have nightmares.

Sean returns back to the mansion a little while later and heads upstairs to his room. He gets a change of clothes and then goes to shower. He takes a long shower, thinking of a story as to where he was last night if anyone asks. He finishes his shower and dries off and dresses before heading downstairs into the living room. Only Alex and Desiree were there, talking about things.

"Hey guys. Where is everyone?" He asks, sitting down on one of the couches.

"Training or talking," Alex replies, "how was your night? We saw you talking to that guy a lot."

"I scored with a friend of his," Sean says, "man, she was something. Kept me up most of the night."

"Really? Because it seemed like you were flirting with him and he was flirting back."

"Why would I be flirting with a guy? We were just talking. Or is that now a crime?" Sean asks.

"It's not," Alex answers, "that's just what it seemed like. Guess we got more drunk than we thought."

"You guys were pretty drunk," Sean says, "too bad almost all of you are taken. It would be more fun if a bunch of single people went out."

"Sorry, but I am happy to have my girl," Alex says, pulling Desiree close.

"I wonder what it would take to get Charles to go clubbing with me," Sean says, "he's single."

"But he likes Jessica, I thought," Desiree says.

"That's never going to happen," Sean says, "she's got an almost pathological fear of men."

"It might, we talked about it last night. She really does like him but she's in denial."

"It wouldn't be much of a relationship," Sean says, "I read her journal, remember?"

"We remember."

"So, I may not been a telepath, but I saw into her head," Sean says, "and it's pretty messed up."

"We get that, but things can change," Alex says.

"There are some things people just can't get past," Sean says, "what are you two up to, anyways?"

"Desiree wants to know my interests so we can do somethings."

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll get out of here," Sean stands up, "I'll find someone else to bother." In his office, Charles and Erik are going over plans when they both get pain in their heads.

"I thought my headache was gone," Charles sighs, "I'll have to take more pain medication later. Remind me never to drink with you guys again."

"This doesn't seem like a normal headache," Erik says.

"What else would it be?" Charles asks, "anyways, we need to figure out who on our team is best against each member of Shaw's team."

"I know that,Charles," Erik says when they are both hit with another wave of pain.

"What is that? Last time I checked, we weren't bonded," Charles says.

"Is it possible that your sister is doing this?" Erik asks.

"Why would she? Last time I checked, she was fine," Charles says.

"Maybe she's not doing it on purpose. Has this happened before?"

"A couple times, but only when she's really upset about something," Charles says, "but I would know if something was bothering her long before now." They get another wave before an image flashes in their heads. An image of people yelling and insulting Gabrielle.

"Oh no. Not this again," Charles says, "damn it."

"What was that?" Erik asks, his voice shaking a bit.

"She's got these voices in her head. They've been there since she was a kid. I locked them away with my powers the last time they became too much and made her forget about them. Something must have happened. Maybe she hit her head. I've got to fix it." Erik gets up and runs off to find Gabrielle, worried about her. She is still on the porch with Jess, asleep. Charles follows him and finds his sister. He kneels down beside her and enters her mind, hoping that the problem hasn't gotten too bad and that he can still help her.

" _Do it!" the voices yell._

" _No!" Gabi screams._

" _Kill them all, we all know Shaw is right."_

" _Stop it!"_

" _Ignore them, Gabi. You need to ignore them. Do you trust me?"_ Charles asks her.

" _Kill this pathetic team," the voices say, "join Shaw like Angel did."_

" _Please,"_ Gabi sobs, " _Stop."_

" _Gabi, can you hear me?"_ Charles asks, materializing in her head. He sees her, as well as a few other figures who are much bigger than her, trying to control her.

" _You are stronger than they make you think,"_ the voices say, " _But they will not help you get there. Shaw can. Do you want to stay weak?"_

" _Gabrielle! This is your mind, you are in control. I need you to change the scene. Change it into a prison. Do it!"_ Charles says, walking towards her.

" _You have no place here, Charles,"_ the voices growl.

" _No, you have no place here!"_ Charles exclaims, and hits the figure. The figure stumbles a bit, but soon stands straight again.

" _This is our home,"_ they say, " _we have always been here. No matter what you do."_

" _Gabi, you have to listen to me! I'm your brother! I need you to think about Erik! Can you do that? Think about him. You're connected to him too. Get him here!"_

" _Erik,"_ Gabi whispers, focusing on him. He comes into existence beside her and looks around at what's going on.

" _Erik, get her to focus on you and make this place into a prison. She's the only one that can trap them!"_ Charles instructs Erik and hopes that this'll work.

" _Gabrielle,"_ Erik says, kneeling next to her.

" _Make them stop..."_ Gabi whines.

" _Get away from her, murderer!"_ the voices yell.

" _You're going to have to do a lot better than that,"_ Erik laughs, " _I know what I am."_

" _You are the one who is destroying her from the inside."_

" _Gabi, Love, I need you to focus on my voice, okay? Can you do that? Focus on just the sound of my voice and the words that I'm saying,"_ Erik tells her, ignoring the voices. Simple taunting doesn't work on him. Not after everything he's been through.

" _Erik?"_ Gabi questions, not opening her eyes.

" _This is your mind. You have control. I need you to control it. Turn it into a prison, okay? Change this from a field into a prison."_

" _I can't..."_

" _Bull. You are Gabrielle Xavier. You can do anything. So do it. Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you can't. Maybe you're just a helpless little girl."_

" _I'm not helpless."_

" _Then prove it! Turn this place into a prison!"_ Gabi focuses, hard. It changes into a room, Gabrielle is weak from going through everything. Erik and Charles shove the figure into one of the cells and lock it. Erik them turns the wall into solid metal, silencing the voice, and pulling them all out of her mind. Gabi gasps when she wakes up, shaking.

"E-erik?" Gabi asks, "Brother?"

"We're right here," Erik says, taking her hand, "it's all over now."


	11. Chapter 11

"Can someone explain to me what just happened?" Jess asks, staring at the three of them.

"T-the voices," Gabi replies, "they got stronger, telling me to join Shaw and kill all of you."

"We need to get her down to the infirmary and find the source of this," Charles says, "this wouldn't just happen without something provoking it."

"I'll take her down," Erik says, lifting her up into his arms.

"I'll go down to the lab and get Hank into the infirmary," Charles says, "Jess, I'm sure he could use your help."  
"Right," she says. She and Erik head the infirmary. Erik deposits her onto a bed then sits down beside her in a chair. A few minutes later, Charles and Hank walk into the infirmary.

"Erik, Charles, you can stay if you want, but I'm going to need space," Hank says, walking to Gabi's side. Charles and Erik go off to the side as Hank and Jess work. They hook her up to an EKG machine to monitor her heart rate and Hank takes a couple viles of blood.

"Have you hit your head recently?" Jess asks her.

"No," Gabi answers.

"Has anything been stressing you out more than normal?" Jess asks, taking notes.

"Training has."

"Anything emotional?" Jess asks, "that's a more likely cause."

"Not really."

"Any lifestyle changes?" Jess asks her, trying to figure out what could have caused this while Hank runs some tests on her blood.

"Not that I can think of," Gabi says, "the voices started a little after Shaw attacked us."

"This has been going on for months? Did it start getting worse at any particular time?" Jess asks her.

"It started to get worse a while ago as training got harder and harder."

"As your doctor, I would ask you to avoid using your powers," Jess tells her, "until we can rule them out as a source."

"I need to use my powers."

"No, you don't," Jess tells her.

"How long will I have to go without using them?"

"I don't know," she says, "at least a few days. Maybe more if your blood work doesn't turn up abnormal."

"Alright."

"You may need a CT scan to look at your brain," Jess tells her.

"Anything you think is best."

"Let me know if you think of anything or if there is anything you'd rather tell me in private, alright?"

"Alright."

"I'll be back soon," she walks towards the exit, "Charles, a word, please?"

"Of course," Charles says, following her.

"I take it this has happened before," she says, once they are out of earshot of the infirmary.

"Yes," Charles says, "once when she was seven years old and again when she was fourteen."

"What caused it then?" Jess asks him, "was anything specific going on at either of the those times?"

"Father died when she was seven and at fourteen our mother died."

"So death causes this," Jess says.

"At first, yes. Right now, I can't be sure."

"Do you think maybe Darwin's death set this off?" Jess asks him, "or do you think she's not telling us something?"

"Maybe it was Darwin, but she didn't really know him. Maybe it was something else."

"Any ideas?" Jess asks him.

"No."

"Alright. Just see if she'll tell you something. I'll see you later," Jess says. They seperate, trying to figure out what caused this. Jess goes to the lab to see if Hank has any ideas.

"Nothing seems to be abnormal," Hank says, "It must have been stressed related to cause this to happen."

"She says the only stress she has is from training. Can't you run more tests?" Jess ask him.

"I can, but I am not sure what it will do."

"Just do it," Jess says, "do you have any friends with CT machines?"

"I can ask the lab I worked at, I am sure they will let us use it."

"I don't think the CIA likes us very much right now, but if you can talk them into helping us, that would be great," Jess says, "I need to go find Sean."

"Alright, I will tell you if I find anything."

"Thank you," Jess says and heads off to find Sean and talk to him. He's outside reading something.

"We need to talk," she sits down beside him in the grass.

"Sure," he puts the book down, "what is it?"

"The other girls, mainly Desiree, have figured out your secret. I denied it. I swear I didn't tell them. So please, I'm begging you, don't tell anyone my big secret. No one else knows other than you and me. Not even my brother, Gabi, or Charles know. And like I told you, my name isn't on any records, so no one needs to know."

"I know, Jess," Sean says, "Alex talked to me earlier, they figured it out on their own. Maybe...maybe I should at least tell Alex and Desiree since they already figured it out."

"I think that's a good start," Jess says, "you know I can't tell anyone my secret. The more people that know, the more likely Shaw is to find out, and if he finds out, we'll have to kill all his men, because then they'll know and I'm not taking the risk."

"Maybe you should tell the others after we capture Shaw."

"No, what's the point?" Jess asks, "no one needs to know."

"I guess. Have you told Charles about how you feel? I know you said you're scared to, but you need to."

"No," Jess says, "that' not a conversation I'd even know how to start. Besides, the battle is soon and I don't want him to be distracted."

"Will you tell him after the battle? The conversation is easy to start."

"So, what was his name?" Jess asks, changing the topic away from her.

"Casey," Sean answers.

"Are you going to see him again? I don't really think it was a one night stand. Otherwise you would have been back earlier in the morning."

"We have a date next Tuesday evening."

"That sounds nice," Jess smiles, "I'm rooting for you. You deserve to be happy."

"So do you."

"It's a little more complicated. I've got a ton of baggage," Jess says, pulling out some of the pieces of grass, then burning them in the palm of her hand.

"I know, but you deserve to happy more than any of us," Sean says.

"I don't think that's true," Jess stands up, "I'm not better than the rest of you."

"You went through a lot of shit so you deserve to be happy since you didn't have much."

"It was the Holocaust. A lot of people went through a lot of shit," Jess shrugs, "I'm no different than them."

"You went through more than most since you are special," Sean says, "but don't let the past determine your future."

"There's just some things I can't tell anyone," Jess says, "It's gonna rain and rain and I don't mix well. I'm going inside."

"Just think about it, okay? You know Charles will make you very happy," Sean says, walking in with her.

"I don't know that for a fact and I can't get hurt again. I'm already damaged enough. Besides, who wants someone as broken as me?" With that, she heads up to her room to get her journal, then heads to the living room to do some writing.

Downstairs Gabrielle was finally waking up from her sleep about the battle she had in her mind with the voices.

"Hey," Charles says gently as she wakes up, "how are you feeling?"

"Better," she smiles, "what happened? Was it..."

"You don't remember?" Charles asks her.

"I remember a little, you, Erik and the voices telling me...telling me to join Shaw.."

"Then we brought you here and Jess talked to you. And then you fell asleep," Charles says, "but everything is going to be alright now. I promise, little sister."

"What happened that they got so bad again?" she asks, "could it be from looking into Shaw's mind?"

"That or something else that's happened or is going on. They don't really know," Charles says, "is there anything we should know?"

"I can't tell you, I'm not sure what could have freed them," Gabi says, sitting up, "wait...the fall..."

"What about the fall?" Charles asks her.

"What if it broke the seal? I did hit the ground hard and it's when I really began to doubt my abilities."

"How did you know about the seal? I got rid of those memories so you wouldn't know about the voices in the first place."

"I remembered a while back when I first met Jess," Gabi tells him, "the voices didn't bother me so I didn't say anything."

"Charles!" Raven runs in, looking disheveled, "we've got a problem."

"What is it?" Charles asks, looking at her.

"I just got off the phone with Agent McTaggart," Raven explains, "Shaw's been spotted in New York City."

"What? Tell Erik, we will head off right away," Charles says, standing.

"I'll get the team together," Raven says, then heads off to tell the others. They meet up to head to the city to spy on Shaw and possibly stop him. Gabi stayed behind, to rest.

"Why would Shaw be in New York City?" Erik asks, "there are no mutants there. At least not any that would help. Besides, he seems pretty happy with his current team."

"I'm not sure," Charles says, "Desiree, do you see anything?"

"He's talking to someone," Desiree replies over comm, "the other man has a thick Russian accent."

"Where are they? In front of a business or where someone lives?" Jess asks her.

"They're in a restaurant that looks like one mafia leaders would meet at," Desiree replies.

"We need to follow both of them," Jess says, "just trust me on this, okay?"

"Right, I'll keep an eye on them," Desiree says as Raven disguises

herself as a waitress.

"Do you have the photos?" Shaw asks the Russian guy.

"I do," he replies, handing the photos over, "the girl?"

"What about her?" Shaw asks, flipping through the photos before handing him an envelope.

"You said you would get me the telepath girl if I got you the photos."

"Right. I suspect that she's back at the mansion," Shaw says, "after all, I allowed one of those stupid CIA agents to see me on purpose, which means the team is here, but the girl is probably still recovering from her fall. I don't expect her to be here. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got my own girl to go get." They shake hands before leaving.

"They are leaving," Desiree says.

"Charles," Raven whispers, "the Russian, he's after Gabrielle."

"We have to get back," Charles says, "right away."

"Wait!" Jess exclaims, "did you see the photos he gave Shaw?"

"Yes, they were of a child."

"No no no no no!" Jess says, slamming her fist against the wall.

"Jess, we will stop him," Sean says, "we have to split up."

"How did he find her?" Jess asks, "it should have been impossible!"

"The Russian found the child," Desiree says, "Alex and I will join you if this child is in danger."

"He's going to kidnap her," Jess says, "we need to stop him before he gets to her and kills her parents."

"We can get there," Alex says, "let's move."

"Who's staying and who's going?" Raven asks.

"Sean, Alex and I will go with Jess," Desiree says. The team splits up. Erik, Charles, Raven, and Hank hurry back to get to the mansion before the Russians can.

"Let me go!" Gabi screams, as the Russian carries her.

"Shut up, little girl," he says, his accent thick, "we need you. But don't worry, you'll have company. Maybe you'll love him."

"No!" She screams before he knocks her out. He loads her into his van and ties her up before driving off.

"She's gone," Raven says when they enter the infirmary.

"No!" Erik yells and his powers activate and start to make the metal objects fly around the room.

"Erik, calm down," Charles says, "we will find her. No matter what."

"Calm down? Calm down? How can I calm down when the Russian Mafia just kidnapped my girlfriend! Shaw tricks us! We should have seen through it! And he sold her for pictures of some little girl!"

"We couldn't have known! We will save her, I swear we will."

"We should have known! What's all this training matter if we don't have any common sense to see what our enemies are planning?!"

"Hank, how much longer until Cerebro is ready?" Charles asks.

"It's hard to tell," Hank says, "I'm doing my best. I can go work on it now, if you'd like."

"Yes, we will need it to save my sister."

"Alright," Hank heads off to go work on the machine.

"I just hope my sister is having better luck," Erik says, "but what does Shaw want with a child?"

"The child must be a mutant," Raven says, "he may want to do to her what he did to you and Jess."

In New York, Jess and her team are following Shaw and hoping that they can stop him somehow from getting the child.

"Isn't anyone curious as to why Shaw wants a little girl?" Alex asks, "it makes no sense. Even if she is a mutant, she wouldn't have powers yet."

"Even so, this is Shaw. He may want her at this age so he can experiment on her more than he did with Jess and Erik," Sean says.

"Sean, you don't have to cover for me," Jess says, "if they're going to risk their lives, they deserve the truth. The girl is his daughter."

"What?" Alex and Desiree ask.

"She's five. Her name is Amelia," Jess says, "and he can't get his hands on her."

"And he won't," Desiree says. Shaw stops in front of a house in Brooklyn and he and one of his men head to the door. There is no answer, luckily Jess and her team got there before them and got the family out.

"You're saying a madman is after our daughter?" The father asks, in the back of the team's van, "why?"

"Jess?" Sean asks.

"Because he's her father," Jess says, "and he, like me and my friends are mutants. They have powers. And since he's got powers, she will too, probably in a few years. He wants her to be on his team."

"We can't let him get her," the mother says, "how did he find her?"

"I have no idea," Jess says, "I tried so hard to keep her from him. There shouldn't be anything linking her to him."

"I know a place that is safe from Shaw," Desiree says, "I can take you there until we capture Shaw."

"Isn't it safest to bring them back to the mansion with us?" Alex asks, "then they at least protected from him."

"It's too risky," Sean says, "that's the first place he will look for her."

"Mommy? Daddy? What's going on?" Amelia asks, looking at them.

"It's okay, sweetie," the mother says, "we are just going on a little vacation is all."

"Why?" Amelia asks, "what about school?"

"It's not safe at home right now," the father says. Amelia frowns and looks around at the other in the van. When her eyes meet Jess's, Jess looks away. Desiree drives them to a city that is right next to the Canadian border.

"What did you mean about you having powers? Is there something wrong with Amelia?" Her mother asks them.

"There's nothing wrong with her," Sean says as they exit the van, "she is special. She will soon discover her powers if she has them."

"My husband and I tried so hard to have a baby, but we couldn't," he says, watching him carrying Amelia, who is asleep, into the house, "then when some teenaged girl left Amelia at the hospital and disappeared, we got lucky. We can't lose her."

"And you won't," Alex says.

"Grand-père !? Êtes-vous ici!?" Desiree calls out in french.

"Desiree? Est-ce vous? Pourquoi es-tu ici?" an older man asks, walking into the fourier.

"Nous avons besoin d'aide, pouvez-vous protéger cette famille jusqu'à ce que nous nous arrêtons un fou?"

"Of course," the man says, his accent thick, "welcome to my home, my name is Adrien."

"Thank you for having us," the father says, "I'm Robert, and this is my wife Elizabeth. And this is our daughter, Amelia."

"You're welcome, I am happy my granddaughter is doing good with her powers."

"Do you have powers too?" Elizabeth asks, a little surprised.

"I do, but I don't use them much anymore. They are hard to use in my age."

"Yea right, Gramps," Desiree says.

"You are welcome to stay as long as you want," Adrien says, "And if you're worried about school, my wife is a retired school teacher."

"That's great," Robert says, "Amelia loves school. Especially science."

"My wife will be happy to teach her."

"We can't really stay long," Jess says, "we can't risk them finding where we've been. Take good care of her, alright?"

"Of course," Adrien says before looking at Alex, "if you hurt my granddaughter I will send you to the moon."

"I won't, sir," Alex says, "I care about her."

"Good." The team soon gets back in their van and leave. They make sure no one from Shaw's team is around, which luckily, they aren't. Jess is quiet the whole ride home, which is uncharacteristic of her.

"I hope the others had as much luck as we did," Sean says to break the silence.

"I hope so," Alex says, "at least the girl is safe. For now."

"Grandpa and Grandma will protect them," Desiree says, "he may not seem like it, but Gramps is seriously strong."

"What can he do?" Sean asks her.

"He's like me, a mutant of water. He taught me a lot, he fought in both world wars too."

"Wow. Impressive," Alex says, but after that, the conversation dropped and the of the car ride was in silence.


	12. Chapter 12

**There's nothing like being told in your creative writing class that you've been doing dialogue and paragraph forming wrong for years. So, now before I told, I'm fixing my mistakes. Also, I'm now on YikYak, so if you see someone with my pen name on there, it's me.**

* * *

Soon after they arrive home, Charles delivers the bad news to them. Jess leaves

and heads to the porch to be alone before the rest of her team fill Charles in on their story.

"Jess?" Sean asks, walking in." Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she tells him, wiping her eyes with her hand. "I'd rather be alone right now, Sean."

"I'm sorry, all of this must be hard for you. Everything will be okay."

"It's fine. Why would it be hard?" She asks, lying back on her bed.

"Well...seeing your daughter and then your best friend is taken."

"She's not my daughter," Jess says. "She's their daughter. And we'll find Gabi. Erik and Charles will go to the ends of the world to find her."

"Let's just hope she's okay. Who knows what those Russians will do," Sean says, leaving.

Jess watches him go and regrets making him leave the moment he disappears. Because now all she can think about is what she could have done differently and about Amelia.

"Erik?" Raven asks, knocking on his door.

"What?" He asks. He's clearly angry about what happened.

"I just wanted to give you something," she says, slowly walking into the room.

"What is it?" Erik asks her, watching her move across his room.

She walks up to him and hands him a picture frame. Inside is a picture of Gabrielle. She also hands him a blanket.

"Gabrielle made the blanket a while ago," Raven says, "it's for you."

"How will a blanket and a picture help find her?" He growls at her.

"It's to comfort you. Charles and Hank are working on Cerebro right now."

"She could already be dead!" Erik yells. "Get out of my room!"

Raven leaves his room, not wanting to be around him when he's mad.

Erik sets the picture on his nightstand and looks at the blanket once Raven is gone. It was made in the traditional way Jewish mothers make them. She must have studied how to make this so perfectly. He sighs and sets it down on his bed, feeling as useless as he did when he was in Shaw's laboratory. He lost the one person who made him happy, his light.

"I'm gonna order some pizza," Charles tells Hank as it gets to be late. "I don't think anyone's cooking, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who is hungry."

"That's a good idea," Hank says.

Charles heads upstairs and calls the pizza place, ordering a few pizzas to be delivered to the mansion. Then he goes around to tell everyone that he ordered pizza, rather than doing it telepathically.

When the pizza arrives they all sit in the dining room to eat. No one says a word, it is strange with one missing. There is a dark mood in the room, mostly radiating from Jess and Erik. No one wanted to start a conversation, fearing an argument could start. Halfway through dinner, Jess starts crying and leaves, going back to her room. Erik stands and goes after her. The others just watch the two siblings leave, not really sure what to do.

"Jess?" Erik asks, knocking on her door.

"Leave me alone, Erik. I don't want to talk," she calls through the door.

"You should at least tell me why you are crying. I'm worried about you."

"I'm upset. Isn't that why most people cry?" She retorts.

"What upset you?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that my best friend is missing?" She lies.

"There's more to it than that. What is it?"

"There is nothing more! What else would there be?"

"Does it have to do with that child?"

"Why would I care about Shaw's daughter? I was just helping to protect her and now she's safe. Nothing to be upset about."

"If you say so," Erik replies before walking off.

"Erik," Sean stops him in the hall.

"Yes?" Erik asks.

"Your sister is going to barbecue me for this, but there's something you should know," Sean says.

"What is it?"

"The little girl that we rescued and kept Shaw away from? She's your sister's daughter."

"What?"

"She was born a few months after Jess arrived here. She gave the people at the hospital a fake name and left when no one was looking," Sean says. "She was trying to protect her."

"Damn him," Erik growls. "I will kill him."

"I thought you had a right to know," Sean says.

"Thank you, Sean. I'm not mad at her for not saying anything. She was doing what she thought was right. But now Shaw is going to have a more painful death for hurting her."

"I can't imagine how hard it was for Jess to see Amelia again," Sean says. "I'd probably be crying too."

"Thank you for watching out for her. I better find Charles and Hank, I need to know where my girl is."

"I don't know if they're finished yet," Sean says. "Please don't tell anyone else what I told you."

"I won't."

"Well, I'm headed to my room," Sean says. "I'm in an artistic mood." Sean heads off to his room, leaving Erik.

Everyone, minus Hank and Charles, are resting. The two want to hurry and finish Cerebro, but as midnight rolls around the two head to bed.

In the morning, breakfast is a little better. It's not completely quiet. Some of the team are talking quietly amongst themselves. Raven made everyone breakfast, doing her best to make it like Gabrielle would. It's alright, but Raven isn't as good a cook as Gabi. And Jess, who is better than Raven, isn't really in a condition to cook.

"So, anyone got any plans today?" Alex asks everyone, trying to get the whole group talking.

"Erik will be leading training today," Charles says. "Hank and I will be working on Cerebro."

"I've got plans tonight," Sean says. "After training."

"Charles, are you sure we should be training today?" Raven asks. "We all went through a lot yesterday. Maybe we should have the day off."

"No, I am not cancelling training. I can make it shorter but you all will be training," Charles says.

"Fine," Raven says. "Whatever. You're the boss."

After breakfast, they all head off and change for training. With Erik in charge, training is not going to be easy. Especially since he's still angry about everything.

"Alright, you're all fighting each other until you can't fight any longer," Erik says. "Use any methods necessary. I'll give you all a minute to spread out across the yard."

"Is this really necessary?" Alex asks, as they spread out.

"Yes, it is. Do you think that Shaw and his team are going to take it easy on you? No, they're going to give it everything they've got. Which is a lot. Which is why I need to see everything you guys have got."

They all nod and get into fighting stances.

"Go!" Erik yells and they start attacking each other with their powers.

They fight for almost two hours until they are all exhausted.

"That wasn't too terrible," Erik says. "But most of you need to work on your defense. Which is why for the next 24 hours, I will be sneaking up on people randomly and attacking them. So keep your guards up."

"Great," Raven sighs.

"You all can go do whatever it is that you do when you're not training," Erik says, then heads back into the mansion. The others follow him after a minute, then split up to shower and change and attend to any injuries they have.

"It's almost done," Hank says, wiping his forehead.

"Good," Charles says. "I hope Erik didn't kill anyone on my team. I know he's angry, but I've got no one else to put in charge."

"He probably just worked them to the bone," Hank says. "He'll want them ready to take on Shaw."

"Yeah," Charles says. "Speaking of which, I can't believe Shaw has a daughter."

"Me too. Who would have thought."

"Seems to me that he would have been too busy plotting or running from the law to have a relationship with a woman," Charles says.

"He probably didn't, who knows what was going through his head at the time."

"Jess might. She knew about the girl. Maybe she'll be able to answer some of the questions. I'll go see her later," Charles says.

"I better go make lunch," Hank says, standing. "Not that I don't love Raven, but her cooking needs work."

"Well, our cook is missing and our backup cook isn't emotionally stable right now," Charles says. "And it's much appreciated, Hank. Raven is an awful cook." Hank heads to the kitchen and begins making everyone lunch.

"Charles." Raven finds her brother. "Erik is crazy."

"Care to explain?" Charles asks.

"He made us fight as hard as we could for two hours and now he says that our defense isn't good enough, so he's going to randomly attack. Everyone's already got minor burns. I don't want to be impaled by metal," Raven says.

"I will talk to him about that," Charles says. "We don't need anyone injured or things broken."

"Talk to your girlfriend while you're at it. I think she was actually trying to cook us," Raven says. "Where's Hank?"

"Kitchen and Jess isn't my girlfriend," Charles says.

"She may as well be. You both want it," Raven says, then walks off to the kitchen to find Hank.

"Hello Raven," Hank says, finishing cooking.

"You know, I could have made lunch," Raven says. "I don't mind."

"I can handle it," Hank tells her. "How was training?"

"We were being trained by a madman. How do you think it went?" Raven asks. "Oh, be alert for surprise attacks, by the way."

"I don't think that will last," Hank says. "I think he will stop when he attacks Desiree."

"What do you mean?" Raven asks. "What's he got against Desiree?"

"Desiree has a unique ability, Erik will learn that she's more than capable to defend herself."

"If you say so," Raven says. "Hopefully I can set up Charles and Jess. It'll relax both of them. Any ideas?"

"Charles won't relax until he finds his sister."

"I know, but still," Raven says. "Beside, you've almost got Cerebro up and running. We'll have her back in a few days."

"Let's hope so."

"We will. I know it," Raven says. "Should I go get the others and tell them it's lunch time?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Alright," she heads off to find their friends. As she walks around she notices that Sean and Alex have been attacked by Erik already. His next target is Desiree.

"Boys, it's lunch time," Raven tells them. "Hank made lunch. If you see the others, would you tell them? Also, have you seen my brother?"

"I think he went to find Jess," Sean says. "We better find Erik before he finds Desiree."

"Good idea," Raven says, "well, I'll see you guys soon."

"Jess?" Charles asks.

"What?" She asks, looking up from writing in her journal.

"I have a few questions for you," he says, walking up to her.

"Ask away," she sets down her journal. "I can't promise I'll answer them."

"How did you know about Shaw's daughter?"

"I knew her mother," Jess tells him.

"I see, well I am glad you knew or who knows what could have happened."

"Yeah," Jess says, looking at her hands.

"My second question is..." Charles takes a deep breath. "Will you go out on a date with me?"

"Amelia is my daughter," Jess suddenly says, tired of lying.

He looks at her in shock before sitting next to her.

"Now I understand, that's why you were so panicked," Charles says. "I'm not mad that you lied. I'm just happy you told me the truth."

"I never should have given her up," Jess says. "I should have kept her. I could have protected her."

"You did what you thought was right at the time," Charles says, putting an arm around her. "She's safe and happy."

"But when I saw her, my only thought was that I wanted her back," Jess says.

"It's understandable that you would feel that way. You will one day have a child you can raise."

"I don't think that would be fair to her," Jess says. "I mean, she'll end up here in a few years. And what am I supposed to tell her if she asks questions? I can't tell her the truth."

"She will understand, you did it to protect her," Charles says. "You weren't in a stable state when she was born. It would have just have been harder on you and her if you kept her."

"What if she asks about him?" Jess asks. "How am I supposed to tell her that her father was a madman that tortured me for years?'

"It's hard to say if she would even want to know. She already knows who he is since you rescued her and her family from him."

"I don't know what to do," she says, pressing her face into his shoulder. "Why is it always me?"

"It's okay, love," Charles says. "I will help you."

"If we had just been rescued a few months earlier, I wouldn't even have had this problem," Jess says. "Or if men didn't just care about one thing."

"Everything will be alright. I am here to help you no matter what," Charles says, rubbing her back lightly.

"Everyone says that, but when? When will everything be alright? Once my brother kills Shaw? Once we find Gabi? When? And what happens when the humans find out about us?" Jess asks him, not objecting to being touched for once.

"We will work through anything that comes our way," Charles says. "I would do anything to see you happy."

"Sorry to interrupt," Raven calls through the door. "But it's lunch time if you're hungry."

"You can go," Jess tells him. "But I'm not hungry."

"I'd rather stay here," Charles says.

"Here," she grabs her journal and hands it to him. "I want you to read this when you have the time."

"Thank you, Jess," Charles smiles, kissing her head.

"Oh, and if the offer still stands, yes," she tells him.

"Great," Charles says. "Tomorrow night, seven pm."

"Sounds good," she says, forcing a smile, even though she's still upset. "Hey, go into my top drawer of my nightstand and pull out the envelope."

He goes to the nightstand and pulls out the envelope. He goes back to her side and hands it to her.

She opens it up and pulls out some photos.

"I found these after I was freed and went back to our home," Jess says. "They're pictures of my family. Not many of them, but it's what I have." She goes through the pictures until she finds a specific picture.

"A few of them are from since I got here," Jess says, handing him a picture. "The nurses gave this to me right before I left Amelia. That was taken right after she was born. I think that's how Shaw found her."

"She was adorable," Charles says. "I'm sure she's still adorable now."

"I heard her parents talking to Desiree's grandparents," Jess smiles sadly. "They said she loves school. Especially science. And she is adorable. Even though she looks a little like him."

"I know it hurts but you did what was best," Charles says, holding her close.

"It felt like it at the time, but it certainly doesn't feel like it now," Jess says. "I had been staying at a shelter until she was born. After that, I didn't go back. Gabi first found me a few days later in an alley. She started bringing me food and other stuff I needed, even though I wouldn't come with her. I didn't go with her until it started snowing."

"Sounds like her." Charles smiles sadly. "She always would help others even if was hard on her."

"I hope we can find her. I'd be dead if wasn't for her," Jess says. "I was in a really dark place."

"We will find her."

"How are you always so positive?"

"Someone has to be," Charles says. "If you have too much negativity it will never go away."

"It's hard to be positive when life keeps throwing all the bad stuff that's happened right back into your face."

"I understand, but I will help you through this. I promise."


	13. Chapter 13

"Erik!" Desiree growls, holding him against the wall. But she isn't physically holding him, she's holding him using her powers, her eyes red.

"What are you doing?" He asks her, "I told you that there would be surprise attacks. Let go of me."

"This is fucking ridiculous," she hisses, "you need to calm down, I know you are upset about Gabi but this is going too far."

"I'm trying to take down the man that tortured my sister and I for years and we won't win this battle without being on the very top of our game. What you all need practice on is defending yourselves!"

"We already can! It's just after two hours of training with you causes us to get tired out!"

"Do you think the battle with Shaw is going to be easy? Do you think you won't get tired out from it?" Erik asks her.

"I know we will, but there we will be at our best. We know what is at stake."

"Do you?" Erik asks, "because you're acting like this is a game. I'm going to ask you one more time to release me."

"We know that this isn't a game!" she growls, tightening her grip, "We saw Darwin die right in front of us, we thought we were going to lose Gabi too that day and Angel abandoned us. We aren't stupid, Erik."

"Let. Me. Go," Erik growl at her.

"Why should I?" her voice darkens.

"Because Shaw didn't kill your mother right in front of you while you were helpless because you couldn't control your powers! And you didn't listen to your sister's screams for years before she finally trained herself not to scream! And you weren't tortured by Shaw because you were different. To you, this is just about protecting the world. To me, it's about revenge. Revenge that I will have, but I need a strong team to do it! And that team can't even have one weakness!"

"That's your problem, you think we must be perfect which is impossible," Desiree says, getting closer to him, "we all have weaknesses, but we will work to not pay attention to them to defeat Shaw. This is personal to us too, we will get him for what he has done to you, Jess, Darwin, and Gabi."

"You can't have any weaknesses. If you do, Shaw will find them and use them against you!" Erik exclaims, "don't you get it?"

"Like he has with you?" Desiree asks, her voice and attitude not like how it should be.

"Yes," Erik says, "I messed up. Allowed myself to have a weakness. And look what happened because of it!"

"You fell in love, there's nothing wrong with that."

"Yes, there is. Love is a weakness," Erik says, "it clouds your judgement and makes you vulnerable."

"So, you rather have it that you never fell in love with Gabrielle? Do you want to forget that? I'm sure Charles can make that happen."

"If I hadn't, she wouldn't be missing!" Erik exclaims, "and messing with my mind won't change that!"

"Are you so sure?" Desiree asks, slowly letting him go, "Shaw had no idea that you love her, he thought she was still healing from the fall."

"Trust me, Shaw knew," Erik says, "I wouldn't be surprised if he has someone watching us."

"What you should do is ask Charles to erase everything, forget her," Desiree says, her voice still dark, "seeing as you regret it."

"Don't twist my words!" Erik exclaims.

"Desiree!" Alex yells, "let him go! What are you doing?"

"Stay out of this, Alex," Desiree hisses, "you said she was your weakness and that you shouldn't have one. So get rid of all of the memories of her, forget her, never love again."

"Desiree, enough!" Alex says, grabbing her arm, "he's just upset. Put him down, now. Otherwise you're no better than Shaw."

She lets him go and shakes her head, her eyes normal again. Erik walks over to her and pushes her against the wall pinning her with his arm.

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare talk to me like that! And don't you dare control me. If you do it again, I will kill you!" He growls at her.

"Then don't piss me off!" Desiree yells, "I have no control over that side of me."

"Then maybe you should have mentioned it months ago when we started training so that you could get control over it!" Erik yells at her, "I don't like my team keeping secrets from me!"

"I didn't want anyone to know about that," Desiree says, "you have no idea how hard it is to live with this. That side of me killed my parents."

"Fear of a thing only allows it to control you," Erik says, "and now you need to get control of it. Because you're going to use it to kill Shaw's team."

"Then you get control over your issue of fearing caring for another," Desiree tells him, "caring for another can help you get stronger. Gabrielle would tell you the same."

"Are you saying that I don't care about anyone? Do you think I would have hunted Shaw across the world if I didn't care about anyone? I do care! I cared about my parents and I care about my sister who will probably have issues the rest of her life! And don't pretend to know what Gabi would say. And don't insinuate that I didn't care about her."

"You certainly act like you don't."

"I'm sorry that I don't go around froicking through fields and spreading sunshine and throwing rose petals everywhere," Erik says, "but not everyone openly displays that they care."

"Maybe you should," Desiree says, pushing him away, "now I am going to go and calm down." She walks away to calm herself. Erik stalks off to the front door and grabs a set of car keys and drives off. Desiree had gone too far, but she wasn't herself at all.

There aren't very many people eating lunch. Erik, Desiree, Jess, and Charles are all missing, leaving just Hank, Sean, Raven, and Alex eating lunch together with a lot of leftover food. No one talks, seeing as there is tension in the mansion from what happened.

"I hate to bring it up now," Hank says as they finish up, "but I need everyone to head down to the lab in the next few days so I can draw blood and do physicals, just in case for the battle."

"Of course," they say.

"If you see any of the others, let them know. Preferably when they aren't angry or crying," Hank says, "I'll be in Cerebro. I'm almost done." They all finish eating and head off in separate directions. The battle isn't far away and right now the team couldn't be more divided. While he is out driving, Erik stops at the area where he and Gabi had their last date. The park is quiet, no one is really around except for a few runners. Erik sits down on their bench and stares at one of the nearby trees. The memories of their date go through his mind, how happy Gabi was. Thinking about her, he gets the urge to go to the airport and fly to Russia and kill everyone until he finds her. Suddenly, he gets a flash of her, tied to a metal table, screaming in pain. He growls and goes to his car and starts driving to the airport.

' _Erik,'_ Charles says, ' _Come back to the mansion.'_

' _Get out of my head,'_ he tells Charles, ' _I'm going to Russia.'_

' _Come back, Cerebro is working. We can locate her now.'_

' _I've already seen her in my head. I need to get to the airport and get to Russia. I'm not coming back to the mansion without her.'_

' _We can find where she is exactly without issues. Please, come back.'_

' _No.'_

' _Erik, it may just cause more problems if you go alone. We can save her.'_

' _I can save her,'_ Erik says, ' _I don't need your help. I can handle killing a few stupid Russian Mafia members.'_

' _They're not mafia members. They're Soviets.'_

' _I don't care. I can still kill them with their own guns.'_

' _We can get her together, just come back and we will take the jet.'_

' _I'm not coming back so you can spent a day planning. I'm going to save her before they turn her into a mindless soldier.'_

' _It might be too late for that,'_ Charles says, ' _she's not in Russia anymore, she's in DC.'_

' _Fine, then I'm headed to DC,'_ Erik says, ' _And I swear to God if you don't get out of my head now, I'll show you things you don't want to see.'_

' _Fine.'_ Erik drives to the airport and gets a ticket to DC. The flight doesn't take long and as soon as he gets there, he starts looking for her and asking people if they've seen her.

"Erik!" McTaggart calls, "Gabrielle...she's at the holding cells, I think she's going to free Emma Frost."

"I'll get to her first," Erik takes off and gets into where they are holding the prisoners with Agent McTaggart's help. When they get there, they see the guards are dead. Erik follows the trail of dead guards, not being bothered by their bodies. He soon sees Gabrielle as she kills one of the guards.

"Gabrielle!" Erik calls, "what are you doing?" She looks at him over her shoulder, her eyes dull. She says nothing as she continues on her way. He finds what metal he can and molds it and uses it to pin her to the wall. She growls and tries to get free.

"This isn't you," he says, "they did this to you. You know who I am. You know who you are, truly. And you would never hurt anyone."

"Release me!" She growls.

"No," Erik says, "this isn't you talking. They brainwashed you. And I love you and I won't let you kill anyone else."

"I don't even know you."

"Yes, you do. Look into my mind," Erik says. She growls and looks into his head. He thinks of all his memories of her and the time they've spent together. Her eyes widen, but she shakes her head and begins to cause him pain. He screams and he starts to lose control, but he keeps thinking about her.

"Those memories are real!" He grits his teeth, "you've been brainwashed and your memory erased. What good is killing all these people? So you can free Emma and help Shaw destroy the world? Then what? What happens after an all out nuclear war? Everyone will be dead! Is that what you want?"

"You don't know me!" She screams, causing him more pain, "I am nothing more than a weapon."

"I do know you! And you are not a weapon! You are a person! A person who I love!" Erik says. Pain isn't anything he isn't used to.

"No!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Shut up!"

"Never! I won't lose you! I can't lose another person I love!" Gabrielle looks at him, her eyes filling with tears. The memories are too much for her.

"E-erik?"

"I'm right here," he releases the metal holding her to the wall and walks over to her, "everything is going to be okay."

"What have I done?" She sobs before fainting. He catches her before she hits the ground. Her body build is different but not too much. Erik lifts her up before heading out. He isn't exactly sure where he should be going.

' _Charles?'_ Erik asks in his mind.

' _Did you find her?'_ Charles asks.

' _Yes. I don't suppose you're anywhere nearby.'_

' _Hank and I are close. We will pick you up.'_

' _Alright,'_ Erik says. He carries Gabi far away from the building and to someplace less populated. Charles and Hank soon arrive to pick them up. They then fly back home and Erik tells him what he knows and what happened in the building.

"They had to brainwash her if she killed those men," Charles says.

"They did a lot to her in a couple of days," Erik says.

"I will take her to the lab to check over her," Hank says.

"Alright," Erik says, "but I'm not leaving her. Not again."

"Of course," Hank says. They all soon arrive back to the mansion, Hank and Erik head to the infirmary as Charles goes and tells the others.

"Is she alright?" Jess asks him when he tells them, worry in her voice, "I can't imagine what they did to her."

"We aren't sure," Charles answers, "when Erik found her, she had killed twenty men."

"What?" Alex asks, "that doesn't sound like her at all. Are you sure it was her that killed them?"

"Yes, Erik said he saw her kill one man with his own eyes."

"When can we see her?" Raven asks him.

"When Hank is done looking her over," Charles replies.

"Will you give us any news?" Jess asks him.

"I will tell you when it is alright to see her," Charles says.

"Alright," Alex says, "I wonder where the others have disappeared to."

"Desiree is by the pool and Sean went out," Raven says.

"I better go check on her," Alex says, standing up, "she was pretty upset earlier after her fight with Erik."

"Gabi isn't going to be happy with Erik," Raven says, "when she finds out what happened."

"If she remembers anything," Charles says, "which right now, she doesn't, according to Erik." Charles leaves to go back to be with his sister. When he gets down there, he hears her screaming. He runs in to see what the problem is. She is running out of the room as Erik and Hank stand from their places on the floor.

"She's certainly stronger," Hank says, holding his jaw. Charles catches Gabi before she can get too far past him and he uses his powers to calm her down by putting peaceful images into her head.

"P-please...no more," she whimpers.

"What did you do to her, Hank?" Charles asks, hugging his sister close to calm her.

"I was just going to take some blood samples when she woke up," Hank replies.

"Gabi, we aren't going to hurt you, I promise. Hank is very nice. He just wants to take your blood and run a few tests to make sure you're okay, alright? That's it. Nothing bad is going to happen," Charles tells her in a soothing voice.

"No experiments?" She asks.

"No experiments," Charles confirms, "I promise."

"O-okay."

"Why don't you go lay back down and let him take some blood and then you can rest. I can bring you some food if you're hungry, alright?" Charles asks her.

"Okay, will Erik stay?"

"I don't think Erik is going to let you out of his sight ever again," Charles says. She smiles a little and stands. She goes back with Hank and Erik, terror still in her eyes.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise," Hank tells her, "just have a seat."

"O-okay," she sits down. Hank carefully takes some blood from her and then heads to his lab to analyze it. When he leaves Gabi grabs Erik's hand, her body shaking.

"I'm right here," Erik wraps his arms around her and hold her tight.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry.." she says, holding onto him.

"Hey, none of this is your fault," he tells her, "and everything is going to be okay, alright? I promise."

"What if they come for me?"

"Then they'll have to go through a team of highly trained mutants first," Erik says, "because none of us would let anything happen to you without a fight."

"Team?"

"Yeah, that's what we are. We work together and help each other out," Erik says, "we're like family."

"Family.." she smiles, snuggling into him, "I remember this...being in your arms."

"Well, you're gonna be in them for a very long time," he says and kisses her head, "because I'm not letting you go."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."


	14. Chapter 14

"Can I make a confession?" Sean asks as he's sitting beside Casey in the park, eating a bag of chips.

"Of course," Casey replies, "what is it?"

"I've never actually been on a date before," he says, "it's never really been my thing. Plus, people are judgemental."

"I understand, it's been a long time since I've been on a date."

"Well, that's good," he says, "well, I don't mean that it's a good thing that you haven't been on a date, I'm just glad you don't have a lot of experience either. I'll shut up now." Casey laughs at his rambling. Sean smiles at him, "sorry, I'm an idiot."

"You're not an idiot," Casey says, "it's alright to be nervous."

"So, any particular reason we're in this park? Are you emotionally attached to it or something?" Sean asks him, looking around, "it's not very populated."

"My friend and I used to come to this park," Casey says, "it has a lot of memories."

"Your friend?" Sean asks him, "Like a friend or a _friend_?"

"She was just a friend."

"What happened to her?" Sean asks, "if I'm not overstepping."

"Her parents were killed so she was taken to a foster home," Casey says, "I haven't seen her since then."

"I'm sorry. What was her name?" Sean asks him.

"Desiree, but I usually called her Kana."

"You were friends with Desiree?" Sean asks him in disbelief.

"What?" Casey asks, very confused.

"She lives at the same place I do. It's like a school, sort of," Sean says, "we're pretty good friends."

"Really? Kana is back in New York?" Casey asks, his face lighting up.

"Come, on, I'll take you to the mansion," Sean stands up, "I'm sure she'll be glad to see you."

"Let's hope she doesn't attack me with water," Casey mutters.

"Why would she attack you?" Sean asks him as he leads the way back to the mansion.

"I kind of broke a promise to her."

"What promise?" Sean asks him.

"That I would protect her. But I couldn't, I let them take her away."

"I'm sure she doesn't blame you," he says as they reach the mansion.

"There's a pool here right? I bet that's where she is."

"Yep," Sean says and they walk around the mansion to the back, where the pool is. Alex and Desiree are sitting on the edge, talking quietly.

"She looks upset," Casey whispers.

"She and one of the others here just got into a big fight. The guy with her right now is her boyfriend, Alex. He's a cool guy," Sean explains as they walk closer."

"Poseidon isn't happy with you, nymph," Casey says to Desiree, making her jump.

"C-Casey?" Desiree asks.

"Hi," Casey smiles at her, "nice to see you again. I've been so worried about you." Sean goes inside to give the two some time to catch up.

"Wow, you're a lot hotter now," Desiree says, "who's the lucky guy?"

"Hey!" Alex exclaims, "you called him hot."

"Oh c'mon he's my best friend," Desiree says, "besides, you are a lot hotter."

"I take offense to that," Casey teases, "I ran into your friend Sean and we started talking and then I mentioned you and then he said he knew you."

"So, Sean is the lucky guy," Desiree teases.

"We're just friends," Casey says, "so, how have you been? I tried to find you after they took you away, but I couldn't."

"I'm fine, I lived in foster care until Charles and Erik found me," Desiree says, "I loved it in North Carolina, but it is good to be back in New York."

"Sean said this place is like a school or something," Casey says.

"It is, for people who are like me."

"Everyone here has powers? That's kinda awesome," Casey says, "I'm surprised I'm not soaking wet right now."

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood," Desiree says.

"You looked kinda sad while we were walking up," Casey says.

"It was...that issue, again."

"Oh," Casey says, "how bad was it?"

"I told one of my friends to forget about the one he loves deeply."

"I'm sure it's more complicated that that," he says, "I know you. You wouldn't go after people unless they really upset or angered you."

"I was upset that he thinks we are so weak. I got so mad that I blacked out and next thing I know, I am holding him against the wall with my...other abilities."

"Hey, look, just go apologize to him later about it and I'm sure it'll be fine, okay?" Casey says.

"Thanks Cas, you always knew what to say," Desiree smiles, "that's why you're my best friend."

"I try," he smiles at her and hugs her.

"I missed you," She says, hugging him back.

"I missed you too."

"Casey, Sean is definitely your type," Desiree whispers, "trust me."

"And you know my type how, exactly?" He teases her.

"Your type probably hasn't changed since I left."

"It could have. You don't know that," he smirks.

"Did it?"

"No," he admits, "I'm just toying with you."

"Course you are," she smirks.

"Well, I'll see you around. I'm gonna go find Sean," Casey heads into the house. Desiree looks around to see that Alex has left too. She's alone now. She supposes she should go find Erik and talk to him like Casey said. She heads inside to find Erik, she decides the infirmary is the best place to go first.

"Erik," Desiree walks in, "can we talk?"

"Fine," he says, carefully leaving Gabi's side as sleeps. They head out into the hall, far enough so Gabi can't hear.

"About before," Desiree starts, "I'm sorry, I should have control over my temper."

"It's my fault too," Erik says, "I let my emotions get the best of me. I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"I'm just mad that you treat us like we are weak and incompetent to what is going on. We know exactly what's at stake, we just try and lighten the mood with joking and such. We can't let everything get to us."

"I know. I'm just worried. If we lose, lots of people are going to die," Erik says.

"We aren't going to let that happen," Desiree says, "we will stop Shaw."

"I hope so," Erik says, "if we're good, I'd like to go back to Gabi."

"Uhh...Erik?" Desiree says, "I think she just left."

"What? She shouldn't be out of bed!" Erik exclaims, "where'd she go?"

"Kitchen, probably."

"I'll see you later," Erik heads off to get to the kitchen, hoping that's where Gabi is.

"Foods," she says, going to the cupboard.

"What are you doing?" Erik asks her, "I told you I'd bring you food. You should be in bed."

"I'm sorry, I just hate it in there," Gabi says, "plus, I thought walking around with help with the whole 'memory' problem."

"Alright. But I'm staying with you, okay? I don't want you alone."

"Why?"

"Because I worry about you," Erik says.

"Oh."

"Because I love you," Erik tells her, "what do you want to eat?"

"Some cereal," she replies, "how do you know I'm still the same girl that you love?"

"Because I do," Erik replies, "I'll always know you're that girl."

"Really?"

"Yes. I know who you are. And I always will. Because you're my soulmate." Gabi smiles and blushes. He kisses her slowly. She kisses him back.

"You should probably eat your cereal before it gets soggy," he says, pulling away. She nods and eats her cereal, her face lights up a bit.

"What is it? You're smiling," Erik says.

"Just remembering something," Gabi replies, "part of my childhood."

"Does it have to deal with cereal?" Erik asks her.

"Sort of, I remember Raven pouring it on Charles head once when I was sad to make me laugh."

"Raven poured cereal on your brother's head? Sounds like a funny story," Erik says.

"Yep, Charles got me upset about something and she did it as revenge and to make me laugh."

"I'm glad that you're getting your memory back," Erik smiles, "what kind of cereal was it?"

"Not sure, chocolate something," Gabi says, trying to remember.

"It's alright if you don't remember. I'm just glad you're remembering things."

"Me too."

"So, anything you want to do today?" Erik asks her as she finishes her cereal.

"Can I rest somewhere other then the infirmary?" Gabi asks, going to clean the bowl.

"We can go to your room or mine, if you want," Erik suggests.

"Can we go to yours?"

"Of course," he says and leads the way up to his room so that they can rest a while. They lay on his bed, Gabi curled against his side. Erik puts an arm around her and keeps her close to him. She mumbles something in Russian before closing her eyes. Erik stays with her, eventually falling asleep himself.

"Find anything?" Raven asks as her, Charles and Jess enter the lab.

"Yes," Hank answers.

"Care to explain?" Jess asks him, "also, I heard that you need to do medical exams on all of us."

"I do," Hank replies, "and...maybe Erik should be here to hear this."

"He's asleep. They both are," Jess says, "you can tell them later."

"Alright, it seems that the Russians have made their own version of the serum used on Captain America."

"And they used it on her?" Charles asks, "she hasn't been gone more than a few days."

"They wasted no time then," Hank says, "because there's more than that. There is something else here that even I cannot identify."

"Meaning?" Jess asks him.

"Whatever it is, it's dangerous since it is attached to her DNA."

"Can you do anything about it?" Charles asks him, "do you know how it will affect her?"

"It won't kill her, that's for sure," Hank replies, "I'm not too sure of it's effects on her abilities, I will have to test her on that."

"I don't think she's in the condition to be tested. She's very emotionally vulnerable right now," Charles says, "can you do our exams now?"

"Of course."

"What do you need us to do?" Jess asks him.

"It's just a typical physical exam along with a blood test," Hank says.

"Alright, I'll go first. You might have a problem finding a vein, though," Jess says, "after all the times that they stuck me with needles."

"I'm sure I can find one." He begins her exam and it doesn't take very long. He takes a few vials of her blood. Then, he does the same to Charles.

"I'll let you know if there is anything wrong or if you're all clear," Hank tells them. They nod and leave the room.

"I'm gonna get some sleep," Jess says, "good night."

"Good night," Charles says. She smiles at him and then heads up to her room and falls right asleep and doesn't have any nightmares, which is rare for her. On the other hand, Gabrielle was the one having nightmares.

"Hey," Erik says, gently shaking her when she starts moving around in her sleep.

"No," she whines in her sleep.

"Gabi, sweetie, wake up," he shakes her a little bit harder, trying to wake her up.

"No!" She screams, flipping them and pining Erik under her.

"Woah! It's okay, honey. It's okay. It's just a nightmare is all. You're safe," Erik tells her in a gentle voice.

"Erik?" Gabi says, "o-oh! I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Love," he says and kisses her. She kisses him back, removing her hands from his wrists. He flips them over so that he's on top of her and keeps kissing her. She moves away and looks at him, she smiles at him.

"Sorry," Erik says, "I can't help myself sometimes."

"It's okay."

"Want to talk about your dream?" Erik asks her.

"It was...the scientists.." she responds quietly.

"The ones that kidnapped you?" Erik asks her, "they can't hurt you anymore. I promise."

"They did so much to me in a few days..."

"I know, Love. I know. But they won't do anything else to you."

"Thank you, Lyublyu," she smiles.

"What?" Erik asks, "is that Russian?"

"They may have put a few things into my head too, a lot of things actually."

"Including Russian," Erik says, "you learned Russian in a few days."

"One day," she corrects.

"That's incredible," Erik says, "go back to sleep, okay?"

"Alright," she pulls him back to her side and rests her head on his chest. Her wraps his arms back around her and closes his eyes. As they sleep Gabrielle once again has nightmares, but this time she accidently shows Erik. Their connection allows him to end up having the same dream as her. He could see all of the pain, testing, experiments and training she went through. All of it 10x worse than what he had gone through. He feels like he's going to throw up. He sees that info wasn't learned naturally, it was forcibly given to her by wires. She screams in pain, sometimes Erik's name would come from her lips. Erik can't watch anymore and he forces himself to wake up. Gabi was gone by that point, having run off somewhere. Erik gets up and head into the halls, searching for her.

"Erik?" Charles asks, "what are you doing up so late?"

"Your sister had a nightmare and she's now somewhere in the mansion," Erik tells him, "what are you doing up so late? Is that my sister's journal in your hand?"

"She wants me to read it," Charles says, "Gabrielle may be in the training room, that was her main place to go after a nightmare."

"Alright," Erik says and heads down to the training room, hoping to find her. When he gets there, he finds her using her new fighting moves on a dummy.

"Gabi, come back to bed," Erik says, "let me fall asleep, then use our connection to follow me into my dreams."

"Our what?" She asks, not letting up on her attacks.

"Our bond," Erik says, "we're bonded. Mentally."

"If we are, how did you not know about what was happening to me, huh?" She asks, "all of the pain, the forced training and so much more."

"I did feel some of the pain," Erik says, "which is why I was so desperate to find you. I hate that you went through what I did." She growls and kicks the head off the dummy.

"Why me? Why did they want me?"

"I don't have the answer to that. And Shaw was so determined to find his daughter, he didn't care what was going to happen to you."

"I will kill that bastard myself for what happened," she growls, her eyes now dark blue.

"Gabi, your eyes," Erik says, "they're the wrong color."

"That happens when the power activates."

"Just calm down. I'm sure you're tired. Just come to bed and we'll figure everything out in the morning, okay?"

"Can I look at your memories? Maybe they will help."

"Go ahead," Erik says, letting her into his mind. She looks at all of his memories again, the ones of them together helps her calm down. He ends up getting her to come back to bed with him and when he falls asleep, he dreams of them and their future and allows her to have the same dream so that they both can actually sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

**To the handful of people that re reading this story: I'm sorry. I've been busy and then I completely forgot that I didn't finish publishing this story. So now I'm going to post the last three chapters right now.**

* * *

The next morning everyone heads to the kitchen since they smell actual food being cooked. Erik, however, is panicking since Gabrielle was not in bed with him. He gets up and starts looking for her again, hoping she's alright. As he got closer to the kitchen he could hear her humming and singing.

"What are you doing?" He asks her, walking into the kitchen, "you should be in bed." Her body stiffens, his voice was too rough and demanding it set her soldier mode on.

"What's wrong?" He asks, seeing her body language change.

"K sozhaleniyu , ser, ya byl prosto sdelat' zavtrak," she replies.

"English, please?" Erik asks her, "I don't know Russian."

"I'm sorry, sir," she says, "I just...came to make breakfast."

"Sir?" Erik asks. Gabi didn't say more as she continues to cook, her body still tense.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Erik asks her, "you were so relaxed last night." She looks at him, her body slowly relaxing.

"Erik," she sighs, "you voice sounded like...sounded like one of the Russian men."

"Oh. I'm sorry. I'm just worried about you is all, okay?" Erik says, wrapping his arms around her.

"It's okay," She says, "just..try to be careful of how you talk, okay?"

"Alright," he says, "I'll do my best, okay? I love you." She smiles at him and soon finishes making breakfast. Everyone gathers to have breakfast in the dining room. They're glad that Gabi is back and they're glad to have her cooking again. She looks at everyone, confusion written all over her face.

"What's wrong, Love?" Erik asks her, seeing the look on her face.

"I don't recognize anyone," Gabi responds, looking over everyone again.

"No one?" Erik asks, "are you sure?"

"Well...the guy on the end looks a little familiar," she points to Charles, "but that's it."

"That's your brother, Charles," Erik tells her, "the blonde girl is your sister, Raven. Next to her is Hank, the guy who was looking you over. The boy with the curly hair is Sean. The boy with the blond hair is Alex. Next to him is Desiree. And the girl with the curly hair is Jessica."

"But Raven doesn't look like herself...what happened to her?"

"What do you mean?" Erik asks her.

"She's usually blue with red hair."

"Well, that's her natural form, but she usually doesn't go into it," Erik tells her.

"Oh," Gabi says, looking at Charles, "Are you still fussy bout your hair?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Charles asks her.

"You always fussed over your hair, never wanting to mess it up."

"My hair has to be perfect," Charles says, "but I wouldn't call it fussing."

"We do," Raven says.

"I like it," Jess shrugs, drinking her juice.

"Of course you do," Raven teases, making Gabi tilt her head in confusion.

"Oh, be quiet," Jess tells her, "everyone has their things they like. Like good hair or pretty eyes."

"Yea, yea," Raven says with a smirk.

"I've got plans tonight," Jess says.

"With Charles right?" Desiree asks, a smile on her face.

"What makes you think that?" Jess asks her, looking at her pancakes.

"Oh that says it all," Desiree and Raven tease.

"Warten Sie ... sie meinen Bruder mag?" Gabi says, extremely confused.

"Is that German?" Sean asks, "I didn't know she spoke German."

"I taught her," Erik says, "and yes, it was German."

"I also know Russian, Japanese, Mandarin, Spanish, Czech, Latin and some French," Gabi lists.

"Wow," Alex says, "how did you learn that many languages?"

"They...taught me."

"Oh," Sean says, "well, I'm sure they'll be useful at some point."

"So, what's training today?" Jess asks Charles to change the subject.

"We will be working on far range attacks," Charles says, "everyone will be training today, after, some of you need a medical exam."

"Alright," Sean says. After breakfast, they head outside for training. Despite Erik's worrying, Hank and Charles want Gabrielle to join training. He's still really worried about her and doesn't think she should be doing a lot of work. Hank places the target about 120 feet away. They take turns trying to hit it with their powers.

"Gabrielle," Charles says, "your turn." She nods and gets into position. She activates her powers, her eyes turn blue as blue energy covers her hand. She throws the energy at the target, accidently disintegrating it.

"Oops...too much power," Gabi says.

"It's alright," Charles says, "we've got more targets to use."

"Okay...how was that?" she asks.

"That was really good, but you need to get control over the amount of power you use," Charles says.

"Right," she nods and moves back to the group. They take turns hitting the targets, which by the end, are burnt, embedded with metal, soaking wet, and missing pieces. After they are done for the day, everyone who hasn't gotten an exam done goes to the lab. Hank takes blood from everyone and looks them over. Afterwards everyone went to clean up from training. They had all worked up a sweat during training, so they all head off, hoping to get to the bathrooms before the others, seeing as they didn't have enough.

"Looks like there's only one left," Erik smirks when he and Gabi get there at the same time, "want to share?"

"S-share?" Gabi says, her face turning red.

"It's not like we've never done it before," Erik says. That turns her face even more red, she still doesn't remember a lot and him and their relationship is one of the things she doesn't remember.

"I...I can wait," she stammers.

"No, you can go first," Erik tells her, "I'll wait. I can always wait for you or one of the others to finish. But remind me to show you those memories later." She mumbles and quickly goes into the bathroom and shuts the door. He smirks to himself and then goes to see if any of the bathrooms don't have someone waiting yet.

"Hello, Erik," Charles says, walking up to him, "can I have a word?"

"Of course," Erik says.

"I've got a date with your sister tonight," Charles tells him, "I thought you ought to know."

"It is about time," Erik smirks, "I was wondering how much longer it was going to take. Now, Sean and Alex owe me twenty dollars."

"Wait, you were betting on when I would ask your sister out?" Charles asks, "you're not mad about it?"

"Hank started it, we both guessed within the next week while Sean said month and Alex said year."

"You're okay with me going out with her?" Charles asks him.

"I am, I know you will make her happy and won't hurt her," Erik says, before his face darkens, "if you do hurt her, there will be no place for you to hide."

"I've got nothing but good intentions," Charles says, "actually, she told me something that I think you should know."

"What?"'

"That little girl that they saved is her daughter," Charles tells him, "she told me about it. And let me read her journal."

"I know, Sean told me," Erik says, "he thought that I should know after what happened."

"Oh. Alright. Well, I've got things to do," Charles says, "oh, and take it easy with my sister. It'll be a while before she gets back to normal."

"I want to help her remember," Erik says, "she is getting more distant."

"I know you do. And I hope you do help her get her memory back," Charles says, "but don't push her too hard."

"Alright."

"I'll see you later," Charles says and walks away from him to go to his office.

"Are you nervous?" Raven asks as she talks with Jess.

"A little. What if he doesn't like me?" Jess asks.

"He does like you."

"He doesn't really know me all that well," Jess says, "and now he's read my journal."

"He likes you, Jess. Believe me, if Gabi could remember anything she would tell you the same."

"I've never been on a date. The only men I really knew were Shaw and his men, and I think you can figure out what they did," Jess says, "I mean, what am I supposed to do after the date? Do I kiss him?"

"That is up to you, if it feels right then go for it."

"How do I know if it feels right?" Jess asks, "what if I'm wrong?"

"You won't be."

"What time is it?" Jess asks her.

"Almost 5 pm."

"Great," she says, "what do I wear?" She goes into her closet.

"Something casual but cute."

"Like this?" She asks, pulling out a light purple dress with short sleeves.

"That is adorable! Wear that one!"

"Alright," she says, "well, that's one less things to worry about."

"Have you noticed that your brother is a bit...out of it?"

"Well, it's gonna take a while for Gabi to get back to normal," Jess says, "and since she's not right, neither is he."

"I hope she remembers soon," Raven sighs, "it's hard seeing my sister like this."

"It's hard seeing my brother like this," Jess says, "especially because he' s been so happy lately."

"Yea, he finally opened up and then this happened."

"I'm sure it'll all work out," Jess says, "it'll just take some time."

"Let's hope she will be able to help against Shaw."

"She needs to learn to control her powers more," Jess says, "not that her abilities have expanded."

"She has new powers now since what happened. You should have seen Charles face after Hank told us, he was so mad."

"Well, if the Russians used methods anything like the Germans did to make powers come out, then it probably wasn't very pleasant."

"But she wasn't born with powers like that. They were added."

"Or they were unlocked," Jess says, changing into her dress. She isn't bothered by changing in front of people.

"I think Charles would have known about her having these abilities," Raven says in a serious voice.

"Who knows," Jess shrugs, sitting on her bed.

"Yea who kn-" Raven cuts off, her eyes widening, "Oh no..."

"What's wrong?" Jess asks her.

"The voices...what if they got free?"

"We would know by now," Jess points out to her, "they may be gone."

"I hope so."

"I don't want to ask her about it. She shouldn't be reminded of it if she doesn't have to be."

"I won't say a word, it would be best if she doesn't remember those," Raven says, standing, "looks like it's almost time for your date."

"Why did I say yes?" Jess asks, "I've got a bad feeling in my stomach about this."

"It will be fine, I promise."

"Fine. I better go meet up with your brother," she says. She leaves her room and heads down to the lobby of the mansion. Charles is there waiting for her.

"Jess," Charles smiles, "you look lovely."

"Thanks," she smiles shyly at him, "shall we go?"

"We shall." They head out to the car and Jess gets into the passenger side.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" Jess asks him.

"It's a surprise," Charles answers.

"Fine," she says as they drive along the road. She looks out the window and watches the trees go by. They soon get into city, Charles takes her to the restaurant she has always wanted to go.

"Oh, wow," Jess says, "how did you know I've wanted to come here? Did someone tell you?"

"Gabrielle told me before the whole memory thing."

"Oh," she says, "well, it's hard to find a place that serves genuine German food. And I definitely miss the food from back home."

"I figured you did, so I got us a reservation," Charles says, "they are very popular so it was hard to do."

"Well, I'm glad you did," Jess smiles as they head inside. They soon get a table and from there they have a wonderful time.

"It's just like my mom used to make," Jess smiles as they eat dinner, "it's delicious. Reminds me of my childhood before everything went bad."

"I'm glad that I can make you happy," Charles smiles.

"I was actually really nervous about this date, actually," Jess says, "I've never been on one before."

"That makes two of us," Charles says, "this is my first date as well."

"Really? The girls weren't all over you in college?" Jess asks him, surprised.

"They were, but I never went on a date with any of them."

"Why not?" Jess asks him, "you can't have been solely focused on school."

"I was, but I was also worried for my sister," Charles says, "it was a hard choice to leave her all alone."

"But I was there with her," Jess points out, "she wasn't alone."

"I didn't know that until about the fourth month you were with her," Charles points out, "phone calls and sending letters was always tricky with us."

"Why?" Jess asks him, "you're like rich."

"The times," Charles replies, "we were both busy with something. My studies, her trying to live up to expectations and then she was helping you and so many other people."

"She's a good person."

"She is. I just hope we can get her back to normal soon."

"I hope so, too," Jess says, "she's my best friend."

"It seems like she is getting better, but then she goes back to being confused," Charles sighs.

"She just needs time," Jess says, "and support. It tooks you guys months to pull me out of my shell."

"This is different, she has no recollection of anyone besides me and very little of Raven and Erik."

"Those memories have to be somewhere," Jess says, "nothing is erased forever. It's impossible."

"It may take years for her to remember, and in some extreme cases they will never return."

"You're a telepath," she points out.

"I know, but I am not going to force her. That could just cause more damage," Charles tells her.

"Or it could help," Jess says, "but we're going to need her in fighting condition in a few months."

"She is ready to fight," Charles sighs, "whatever they did to her made her ready to fight at any time."

"I mean mentally," Jess says, "and she doesn't have full control over her powers right now."

"I know she doesn't. Hank has been helping her control her powers. Lets hope that she will be better soon."

"Yeah, me too. I'm really worried about her." The two of them drop the subject there and continue with their date.

"I could marry this cake," Jess says, putting another forkful in her mouth.

"It is delicious," Charles agrees.

"It's almost perfect," Jess smiles, "I love chocolate cake."

"I'll have to say Gabrielle's cake beats this one by a bit," Charles smiles.

"Well, she can't be a perfect cook," Jess says, "no one can be."

"She is close to it," Charles says.

"I know," she says as they finish the cake. They both soon leave the restaurant and head for the park to walk around a bit. The weather is not too hot or too cold. Fall is in the air.

"You know, Fall is my favorite season," Jess says, looking around.

"Really?" Charles says, "And why is that?"

"Well, the weather is pretty good. And there are lots of colors," Jess says, "plus, I've grown accustomed to your Fall holidays, like Halloween and Thanksgiving."

"It is wonderful, everything is calming down for winter," Charles smiles.

"Yeah. And then we freeze. But at least there's my favorite holiday," Jess smiles.

"It's a good time to stay indoors," Charles says, "I have fond memories of winter with my family."

"I don't really like being indoors a lot, but I can't really go out in the winter," she says, "that's why I tend to get depressed in the winter months."

"I will help you as will the others to make this winter your best one."

"It might take a bit of work," Jess says, "just as a warning."

"I understand," He smiles, lightly putting an arm around her. She smiles to herself as they walk along the path in the park and she truly feels happy. They spend the rest of the night out at the park before heading back to the mansion.


	16. Chapter 16

While Charles and Jess are out everyone relaxes. Gabrielle is in the living room alone, sitting on the couch eating ice cream.

"Hi," Erik smiles and sits down beside her, "what kind of ice cream is that?"

"Vanilla and Chocolate," Gabi answers.

"Awesome. Perfect combination," Erik says, "how are you feeling? I'm sorry about earlier."

"I'm alright, just trying to calm myself," Gabi says, "earlier was a...surprise."

"Well, you're welcome to look at my memories a little more if it'll make you a little more comfortable," Erik suggests.

"Are you sure?" she asks, looking at him finally.

"Yes," he says, "I don't mind you looking in my head. I've got no secrets from you."

"O-okay," she says, lightly placing her hands on his head and focusing. He shows her everything they've been together since the day they met. Gabi grimaces and soon pulls back with a scream.

"What's wrong?" He asks, his voice full of concern.

"I...I need to..." She stammers, standing quickly knocking her bowl to the floor.

"What is it?" He asks, standing up.

"My..head..." She whines, stumbling a bit before fainting. He catches her and carries her down to the infirmary. She grabs his shirt, not wanting him to let her go. He sets her down on one of the beds. Something was certainly going on in her head.

"I'll go get some help, okay?" He asks her, trying to get free from her grip. She whines a bit, before letting him go. He goes and gets Hank, then comes back into the room.

"What happened exactly?" Hank asks.

"I was just showing her my memories of her and she fainted," Erik tells him.

"Do you think that maybe the voices came back?" Hank asks.

"I didn't show her that part," Erik says, "just the good stuff."

"You never know."

"What do I do? Charles isn't here right now," Erik points out.

"We will just have to wait," Hank replies.

"Great," Erik sighs, "Charles is going to kill me when he finds out."

"It's not your fault," Hank says, "you couldn't have known this would happen."

"But I let her poke around in my brain without knowing for sure what would happen, especially after everything that happened."

"Everything will work out."

"I hope you're right," Erik says, looking at Gabi. Hank soon leaves to let Erik have time with Gabi. Erik sits at her side, hoping she'll be alright. After thirty minutes Gabrielle slowly opens her eyes.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Erik asks her, worried.

"Um...fine..." she answers, looking at him confused.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Erik asks her.

"Why are you so close to me...I thought you and Charles were still out."

"No, Charles is out with Jessica," Erik says, "why would I be with Charles?"

"What? I thought Jess was staying out of the issues," Gabi says, "I thought you and Charles were recruiting."

"Recruiting? We haven't been recruiting for months. We've been training, remember?"

"We have?" she asks, "Why can't I remember that?"

"I'm not sure," Erik says, "I'm sure the memories will come back soon." He takes her hand. She looks down before looking at him confused.

"Why are you holding my hand?"

"Because we're dating," Erik tells her, "have been for a while."

"W-we are?" she blushes.

"Yes," he says, "come on, why don't we go up to your room? You'll be more comfortable there." She nods and allows him to lead her to her room. She thinks the entire time they go to her room, trying to put pieces together. They go into her room.

"Just relax, okay? Don't think so hard. It doesn't matter if you remember or not," Erik assures her. It might be better if she doesn't remember everything she's been through.

"Really?" Gabi questions, "I need to remember what has happened in the last few months."

"It's not really all that important. Just your brother thinking of annoying ways to train us is all," Erik says, "a couple of missions. You're not missing much."

"Are you sure? What about my memories with you?"

"We can always make new memories together," Erik smiles at her, sitting on her bed. She smiles and looks away shyly, just like she did early on in their relationship or during certain things, "should I stay or go?"

"Y-you can stay," she replies, a blush covering her face. He lays back and pulls her down and puts an arm around her. She smiles and snuggles against him. They both end up falling asleep. As they sleep, Erik accidentally has a nightmare of the day he lost Gabi and Gabi was watching the scene unfold.

" _It's all your fault Erik!"_ dream Gabi yells, " _If it wasn't for you I would have never been taken!"_

" _I'm sorry! It was an accident! I did my best to stop them from taking you!"_

" _I'm a monster now and it is because of you! I hate you!"_

" _You aren't a monster! You're still the woman I love! And you always will be!"_

" _I have been changed! I will never be the same! I hate you, Erik!"_

" _You aren't any different! I know it!"_ Dream Gabi lunges at him and forces him against the wall. Her eyes dark blue and darkness around her.

" _I will kill you for allowing this to happen,"_ she hisses, " _After I am done with you, I will get the others."_

" _You can kill me, but please, leave the others out of it,"_ Erik says, " _They have nothing to do with any of this!"_

" _Maybe I will kill them first, starting with your sister."_

" _No. She's your best friend! You can't hurt her. Think, Gabi. They're your friends!"_

" _No, they are not. Shaw and the others are my friends."_

" _No. Shaw wants to destroy the world."_

" _So?"_

" _That's not you. You're not the kind to want to kill everyone."_

" _How are you so sure? You don't know everything about me."_

" _I know enough to know that you're not like that,"_ Erik tells her.

" _I hid a lot from you, Erik,"_ she smirks, " _like the fact that I never cared for you or your past."_

" _I don't believe that and I never will,"_ Erik says, " _I know when I'm being lied to."_

" _I'm a telepath, I have other ways to trick people,"_ she smirks, stabbing him close to his heart. Erik collapses on the ground in his dream, and then wakes up and real life from the nightmare. He gets out of her bed and leaves the room quietly, heading to his own room to sleep the rest of the night. Gabi wakes up with a jolt, the dream and dark memories entering her mind.

In the morning, Erik is still acting weird. The dream had scared him a bit. He quietly eats his bowl of cereal at breakfast. He has no idea if what Gabi said in his dream was true or not.

"Good morning, Brother," Jess says, sitting down next to him at the table with a bagel with cream cheese, "how are you?"

"Good morning," Erik says, "I am well, how are you?"

"I'm good. Had a little bit of a late night, but it was all good fun," Jess tells him.

"Do they know that they're talking in German?" Alex asks Desiree while they eat their breakfast.

"Probably," Desiree answers, "they may want to keep things to themselves without worrying about anyone listening in."

"Good point," Alex says, eating some bacon, "I would if I knew another language. Plus, it annoys people."

"Yep."

"So, what are the plans for the day?" Alex asks.

"One on one training," Charles answers, "Alex you will be first."

"Alright," Alex says, "what does one on one entail?"

"You will see."

"Alright," Alex says, "sounds like we have an interesting day ahead of us."

"Yes, now, does any know why my sister is eating alone in the kitchen?" Charles asks.

"She may have amnesia," Erik says.

"We already know that, Erik," Sean says, "but she would always sit with us."

"She doesn't remember anyone," Erik says.

"But she remembers you, Charles, and Raven."

"Well, the rest of you are strangers and I wouldn't want to eat in a room full of people I don't know," Erik says. They all look at each other, there is something different about Erik this morning.

"Are you alright, Erik?" Jess asks him.

"I'm fine," he lies.

"Don't lie to me," she warns him. Erik sighs and tells her, and only her, about the nightmare he had last night.

"So? It's just a nightmare," Jess say, "they don't mean anything."

"She could be hiding something," Erik says, "what if all of this is just an act?"

"She's not hiding anything! She's my best friend and your girlfriend! How could you even think that?"

"Did you forget that my mind is connected to hers? I know more than you do about her," Erik says, the others leaving seeing Jess getting mad.

"You're an idiot!" She growls at him.

"I'm not an idiot!" He hisses.

"Yes, you are!" She yells at him, standing. She grabs the nearest thing she can find - a plate - and throws it at him. He jumps away, trying not to get hit with the plate. She swears at him in German continuously and keeps throwing the breakfast plates and bowls at him, some of which still have food on them, which ends up on the walls and the floor. He dodges each plate the best he could, not wanting to be cut up. The plates shatter when they hit the wall and make a mess.

"Are you going to stop being an idiot?" Jess asks him.

"I'll stop if I find out the truth," Erik says.

"The truth is that she's your girlfriend and my best friend. And she's on our team. She's going to help us," Jess says.

"The dream scared me, I just want to know if she is. The Soviets could have done anything and everything to her."

"It was just a dream!" She yells, "you're not supposed to read into them!" That's when the door to the kitchen opens and Gabi steps into the dining room. They both turn to look at her. She looks at them, tears sliding down her face.

"Gabi, he's just being an idiot," Jess says, "don't listen to him."

"I also saw the dream," Gabi says quietly, her body beginning to tremble. Jess walks over to her and hugs her.

"Do...do you really think I would betray you?" she stammers, "I...I..."

"But the dream was so realistic," Erik says.

"I would never hurt you!" she cries, "I love you too much!"

"How do I know you're not working for Shaw?" Erik asks, "or the Russians?"

"I'm not!" she says, moving from Jess, "It's because of them I'm different, that I'm...I'm a monster..."

"No, you're not," Jess says, "you're not a monster. You're my best friend."

"My own boyfriend thinks I am," Gabi sobs before running off. Jess growls at Erik and her powers begin to activate and she starts to glow, then turn into fire. Erik doesn't pay attention to her, his eyes looking to where Gabi ran off. She throws a white hot fireball at him. He just barely dodges it, he glares at her before walking off.

"I'll go buy more dishes," Raven says when they hear Erik walk away.

"He better go and find Gabrielle," Charles growls, "if he doesn't, I will make his training thirty times worse."

"You may want to take care of your girlfriend before she burns down the house," Alex suggests. Charles heads into the dining room to calm Jessica down. She's still mostly glowing with fire, which is a power of hers that even she hadn't known about. He helps her get back to normal, calming her from her brother's overbearing stupidity.

"He's such an idiot!" Jess exclaims.

"He is," Charles agrees, "he better fix this or the team is going to fall apart."

"I'm sorry about the dining room," Jess says, looking around. There are plate shards, food stains, and scorch marks on the walls.

"It's alright, we will have Erik fix it up," Charles says, wrapping an arm around her.

"That's a good idea," Jess smirks.

"He better make it up to her, or I swear."

"You can kill him after we kill Shaw," Jess says, "we need him."

"I think Gabi will kill him if he continues to accuse her," Charles says.

"We need him alive," Jess says, "I'm sure he's smart enough to realize that it was just a dream."

"Let's hope, now I best go and start training," Charles says, exiting the room. Jess watches him go and then heads up to her room to relax before she has her training session.

Meanwhile, Gabi had run off to one of her hiding spots in the park. She silently cries to herself, of all times for her to remember, it had to be now? Erik starts looking for her, worried. He didn't mean to upset her. Her reaction was something he wasn't expecting. She had to be telling the truth if she reacted that way. Maybe his sister was right. Maybe it was just a nightmare. As he continues to walk around it begins to rain. He looks really hard to find her, especially now that it's raining. He's really worried about her. As he gets closer to the more secluded area of the park, he can hear soft sobs. He follows them and finds her.

"Hey." She looks up at him, her eyes red and puffy from crying.

"I'm really sorry," Erik says, "I overreacted. It was just a nightmare."

"Do...do you really think I would betray you?" Gabi questions, "Betray my only family and loved ones?"

"No. I'm sorry. I just freaked out," Erik says, "the dream seems really realistic."

"I would never do that Erik," Gabi says, "the dream terrified me because...what if I did become that...the thought scares me because I couldn't live with myself if I killed any of you."

"Come on, let's go home," Erik says, "before we catch colds." She slowly stands, showing the cuts on her upper legs and arms.

"What happened to you?" Erik asks her.

"I...um..." she looks down.

"Gabi."

"I...may have...done them."

"Come on, let's get you home and cleaned up," Erik tells her. He takes her home and into one of the bathrooms. Gabi stays quiet as Erik cleans her cuts, she just watches him. He cleans them up and bandages them, but doesn't say anything about what she did. He's just worried about her. She takes one of his hands, she looks at him. Her eyes still holding the sorrow she feels.

"Everything is going to be okay," he tells her when he finishes.

"I'm so sorry," she whispers, "if I only protected myself, none of this would have happened."

"It's not your fault," Erik says.

"But it is," Gabi says, "if I only had my guard up and fought back, I would have never been taken."

"Even you couldn't beat highly trained Russian assassins," Erik says, "not alone."

"I'm sorry for worrying you, I never want to be away from you."

"I don't want to be away from you either, Love," Erik tells her, "also, the dining room is a mess right now."

"You do realize that you will have to clean it, right?" Gabi says, laughing lightly.

"I didn't make the mess, but your brother is too into my sister to make her clean it up," Erik says.

"But it was your fault that she threw the plates."

"She overreacted," Erik says, "honestly, I thought she would be in a better overall mood after her date last night."

"I'll convince Charles not to have you clean it," Gabi says, taking one of his hands.

"You think you can swing that?" Erik asks her, "because if you can, you're more powerful a telepath than he is."

"I'm his sister, I can get him to do anything I ask without even using my powers," Gabi smirks.

"Really? I thought that was a girlfriend power, not a sister power," Erik raises an eyebrow.

"It's both if you know how to do it right," She remarks, moving a bit closer to him, "but you will owe me for what you said and me getting you out of trouble."

"I know I do," Erik says, "trust me. I'll do anything to make it up to you."

"Good," she smirks and goes to talk to her brother.


	17. Chapter 17

"Tomorrow is the big day," Gabi says, working on the last touches to the uniforms.

"How are you feeling?" Erik asks, standing behind her, "ready for this to be over already?"

"I'm ready to stop him from hurting anyone else," she replies.

"Hopefully after this, my sister will truly be able to move on with her life," Erik says, "I know she seems happy, but she's still got Shaw and her-" Erik cuts off, realizing what he is about to say, "her fears."

"She will be able to move on once he is gone. We all will."

"I've got big future plans," Erik smiles and kisses her.

"Oh?" Gabi smiles, "And what are those?"

"You'll see soon enough," Erik teases, "are you almost done?"

"Almost...and there!" She smiles, finishing the last uniform, "There, all ready for tomorrow."

"Shall we head to bed then, Love?" Erik asks her. She nods and stands, putting the uniform in the pile. He takes her hand leads her to their room. Most of the others are already in bed. It's late and they have a long day ahead of them. During the night, Gabrielle can't sleep, nightmares and sickness plaguing her. Erik feels her moving and pulls her closer to him in his sleep. She sighs in content and snuggles against him, soon falling asleep. He's naturally very warm, like a human space heater.

The next morning, everyone has a quick breakfast before heading downstairs to the jet. They are all in their new uniforms as they board the jet and take their seats. They are all surprised when they see Hank in his beast form.

"What happened to you?" Alex asks him.

"Let's say one of my experiments didn't go as planned," Hank answers.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Erik says. The jet takes off and they fly to Cuba to stop Shaw from starting World War 3.

"Are you ready for this, Erik?" Charles asks, as the two get into position.

"I'm more than ready," Erik says, using his powers to find the sub and pull it out of the water. It crashes onto a nearby beach, where they also land the jet. Shaw's team exits the sub as the X-men exit their jet. They stand face to face, minus Shaw, who is missing.

"I can't find him," Charles informs the team quietly, "he must have found a way to hide himself inside the sub. Jess, Erik, find him. Raven, stand guard at the entrance of the sub after they go in. The rest of us will keep the team busy. Alex and Sean take on Angel, Hank handles Azazel while Gabrielle and Desiree fight Riptide. Charles keeps an eye on Erik and Jess using his mind as they work their way through the sub, trying to find Shaw. The two soon find the secret hidden room.

"Erik. Jessica. What a pleasant surprise," Shaw says, looking at them, "may I ask you something? Why are you on their side? Why keep my child from me?"

"We aren't going to let you hurt anyone else," Erik hisses.

"And you have no business going anywhere near _my_ daughter. She's safe and happy with her family."

"I'm sorry for what happened in the camps. I truly am. But I'm not sorry about the outcome," Shaw walks towards them, "why do you fight to protect a doomed race? One that does not understand you? That fears you."

"They will accept us one day," Erik says, "but not with mutants like you trying to destroy them."

"We are the future," he says, "embrace it."

"You are not going to win, we will end you for what you did to us and my girlfriend," Erik sneers, glaring at Shaw.

"Everything I did, I did it for you two. To unlock your abilities. To make you powerful. To continue our species," Shaw tells them.

"No, what you did was to make us weapons," Erik says.

"Enough talking," Jess growls and throws a fireball at him, which breaks some of the crystal, which lets Charles see into the room, at least a little bit.

' _Erik, Jess,'_ Charles calls to them, ' _get his helmet off.'_ Jess throws more fireballs at him to distract him so Erik can get the helmet off.

"Think," Shaw says, "we could control everything. You are my family, just imagine ruling the world."

"You aren't our family! You tortured us for years for your own personal game! I had to give up my child because I was afraid of you finding her! And we have both had nightmares for years! I thought I'd never be able to trust any men again! You turned my brother into a mass murderer. And you sold his girlfriend to the Russians! They turned her into a killer in a couple of days!" Jess rants to him, "you think a good person would do that to people?"

"They turned her into something more powerful," Shaw says, "without them she would have been easily killed by anyone. She was weak and pathetic."

"She was not," Jess says, "she is my best friend. She saved my life. And she is very powerful. She always will be."

"Erik, you were the best one I had," Shaw says, "I have high hopes for you and I know with your help we can rule everything."

"Never," Erik says, using his powers to get his helmet off. Before Charles can act, Gabrielle uses her new abilities to slip into the room through the shadows. She glares at Shaw, her eyes blue.

"Impressive new powers that the Russians gave you," Shaw says.

"You," she growls, slipping in Russian, "I am going to make you pay for everything you have done. This is the one mission I will carry out for Hydra."

"Hydra? The Nazi science division?" Shaw asks.

"Yes, they are still around," She smiles, evilly, "they are the ones who turned me into this. Into the Black Assassin."

"You can't kill me," Shaw says.

"Actually, I think that honor is mine," Erik says, pulling something from his pocket, "recognize this coin?"

"Erik," Shaw starts, before he is stuck in his spot, thanks to Gabrielle.

"Here's how this is going to work. I'm going to count to three, and then I'm going to move the coin. And I have a feeling that by the time it reaches you, it's going to be very, very hot," Erik says, "eins…." He starts to move the coin towards him. Jess uses her fire to heat the coin up.

"Zwei," Erik counts, as the coin gets closer and closer to Shaw's head, "Drei." The coin pushes its way through Shaw's head, then out the other side, then drops to the floor, stained with blood and brain matter. Gabi releases the binds, letting his body drop to the floor.

"It's finally over," Jess sighs, watching his body fall to the floor, "let's get back to the others." The three of them walk out of the sub together. The battle is almost over outside. Everyone turns and looks at the three.

"Shaw is dead," Erik announces, "the rest of you are welcome to join our team, if you so desire." Erik, Jess and Gabi head back to their teammates.

"Is anyone hurt?" Jess asks, looking them all over.

"We're good," Raven says, "who knew Desiree could heal with water."

"Something's wrong," Erik says, suddenly, looking towards the ocean and at the ships, "their weapons are pointed towards us."

"They're going to fire at us," Charles says, reading their minds. The missiles head towards them, and Erik uses his powers to stop them and turn them towards the ships.

"Erik," Gabi says, "don't."

"Why not?" Erik asks, "they're more than willing to take our lives."

"They are just following orders," Gabi says, "they don't know what to really do."

"I've been at the mercy of men that were just following orders," Erik says, "never again."

"If you do this, Shaw will get what he wants."

"Shaw's dead," Erik says, "how could he get what he wants?"

"A full out nuclear war started by a mutant." Erik knows she's right. He keeps the missiles in the air and allows them to explode harmlessly. Gabi goes to him and hugs him.

"Happy?" He asks her, putting his arms around her.

"Yes, now we can have a future."

"Yeah, we can," he smiles, and then kisses her.

"Come on, let's go home," Jess says, "Desiree, sometime in the next few days, you can call your grandparents and let Amelia and her family know it's over."

"I will," Desiree says, then turns to the rest of Shaw's team, "will you be joining us?"

"No," Azazel says. He, Angel, and Riptide join hands and they teleport off the island. The X-men get on their jet and head home.

"I can't believe this is finally over," Jess says, "it almost feels like this was a dream. Like it was too easy."

"We did it," Charles says, pulling her close, "it's all over."

"Death seems too good for that man," Jess says, "after everything that happened to Erik, Gabi, and I."

"I would have liked to have him in prison for the rest of his days, but you did what you set out to do," Charles says.

"It couldn't have been like that," Jess says, "he couldn't live. I would have always been in fear of him escaping somehow. Coming after me or my daughter."

"Did you just say daughter?" Alex asks her.

"Yes, I did," Jess says, "Sean and Charles already know this, but the little girl we saved is my daughter. Now you all know. I'd rather not discuss it."

"That's fine, Jess," Desiree says, "you don't have to tell us everything."

"Anyone else feel the need to take a nap?" Sean asks, yawning.

"I more feel the need to..." Gabi shakes her head, her face a bit green.

"Here," Alex hands her a brown bag, "air sickness?"

"Thanks," she says before getting sick.

"This has never happened before," Raven tells them.

"Gabi, have you been feeling dizzy at all?" Jess asks her.

"A..a bit," Gabi replies.

"Any back or chest pains?" Jess inquires.

"Chest pain."

"Have you been feeling off, even before today?"

"Jess, leave her alone," Erik warns, "we've all had a rough day. We're allowed to not feel up to par."

"Erik," Gabi says, "I've been feeling a bit sick for a few weeks."

"Hank should have done our checkups closer to the battle," Jess says, "because you shouldn't have been in this battle."

"You don't mean she is...?" Desiree asks.

"We can't know for sure until we get back home and do some tests," Jess says.

"I don't follow," Erik says, "are you sick? Does it have to do with your powers or something?"

"I think Jess is trying to say that I might be pregnant," Gabi tells him.

"What?" They soon get back to the mansion and Hank and Jess take some blood samples from Gabrielle to check if she is pregnant or not.

"How could this happen?" Erik asks, pacing back and forth, waiting.

"How often did you two?" Charles asks.

"Charles, I am not talking to you about what goes on behind closed doors," Erik says, "they're closed for a reason."

"Well, obviously one night you two ended up conceiving a child."

"We don't know that for sure," Erik says, "I'm not an idiot. I've been with my share of women. In know what I need to do."

"What will you do if she is pregnant?" Charles inquires. He doesn't want to see his sister become a single mother at such a young age.

"What do you mean what will I do?" Erik asks, "I'll be a father. I have a responsibility. Besides, I already have this." He pulls a small box from his pocket.

"I am glad you will be with her," Charles says, "I know you two are ready for this."

"Where would I go? I love her," Erik says, "and no matter what happens, my place is at her side."

"Thank you, Erik. I always wanted someone to be with her," Charles says, "but I was always worried about them not taking care of her. But I know you will."

"Thank you," Erik says, "I hope you do the same for my sister. She deserves someone who will love her and take care of her after all she's been through."

"I will stay at her side no matter what. I love her with all my heart," Charles says.

"Good," Erik says, "I'd say I'd hurt you if you hurt her, but I think she's more than able to flame grill you if you do."

"This is true. I would also tell you that, but I think Gabrielle can take care of you if she needs to."

"Speaking of which," Erik looks at Gabi as she walks over to them. She has a huge smile on her face, holding the sheet of paper.

"Are we having a baby?" Erik asks her.

"We are," Gabi answers. He walks over to her and wraps his arms around her and hugs her tight.

"I love you," he says.

"I love you too," she says, hugging him back.

"I hope the baby is as adorable as you are," Erik smiles. Gabi giggles a bit. They all head upstairs where the others are relaxing after cleaning up.

"Well?" Jess asks, looking at her brother and best friend.

"Erik and I are having a baby," Gabi replies happily.

"Congratulations!" The team is all happy for the two of them. The team is basically a family now, and their little family is going to get bigger. Everything is looking up for all of them now. Who knows what the future will hold, but they will always have each other's backs.


End file.
